


The Meetings

by fluffy5469



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2018-11-10 09:49:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 171,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11124693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffy5469/pseuds/fluffy5469
Summary: Naruto has never had a friend before nor has he ever thought that he would befriend the rest of the genin before his own team. He's invited to weekly genin meetings and suddenly everything changes. He's no longer alone as he interacts with Teams 8 & 10 and forges strong lasting bonds between the next generation. Mostly drabbles of the main events, mainly follows cannon but diverges later on.





	1. The First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, this is my first story, so I'm very excited to be posting it! Thank you for reading, enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

* * *

 

Naruto leaned against the bridge and sighed, his team nowhere in sight. Today was Team 7’s first day of missions. One word: D-ranks… After a mission where Kakashi-sensei did nothing but giggle perversely while reading his book, Sakura-chan ignored him the whole time, and Sasuke pretended that his team didn’t exist, it was no wonder Naruto felt down. He stood alone on the bridge after the mission watching the water ripple. Kakashi shunshined away the minute the mission finished and both Sakura and Sasuke refused to go out for lunch together. “Well, it could’ve been worse,” he muttered.

* * *

Meanwhile, Team 10 walked down the path leading into the village.

“And there was so much mud! I think I got some in my hair. It’s going to take days for it to wash out and---Shika! Are you listening to me?” Ino ranted.

“Troublesome” Shikamaru groaned, tired of listening to Ino’s ranting. Stretching his hands above his head, he searched for a distraction. There! In the corner of his eye he saw Naruto on the bridge. “Naruto! Why don’t you join us for lunch? We’re going to Ichiraku’s, my treat!” Shikamaru practically shouted, hoping to throw Ino off his back.

“Huh, wha- Shikamaru?” Naruto asked confused.

“We’ll talk while we eat, come on!” Shikamaru nearly dragged Naruto away from the bridge with Choji to avoid Ino’s complaints.

“Great idea, Shikamaru! Nauto-baka, next time you should bring your team. Actually, just bring Sasuke. No one needs Forehead anyways!” Ino’s eyes fired up, making the three boys look away with sweat-drops. _Wow that’s new,_ they all agreed.

“So, Ichiraku’s?” Naruto wondered while trying to tug his hand away from Shikamaru’s surprisingly iron tight grip.

“Ya, we’re meeting up with Team 8 there to talk about the genin exams and our first mission,” Choji said between munching his chips.

“Sounds fun!” Naruto replied while rubbing the wrist Shikamaru had finally let go of.

“We were going to invite your team too, but we never could find you guys. We’re thinking of making it a weekly thing to hang out,” Choji explained as he held the door to Ichiraku’s open for Ino.

They were walking into the restaurant when they heard someone behind them say, “It is indeed beneficial to get to know each other as our three teams were the only ones to pass. As we are the same age, we will most likely be working together.” The hooded figure then nodded towards Shikamaru and announced, “We are here, Shikamaru.”

“Woah!” Naruto jumped and turned around to see Shino standing right next to him. “Don’t do that!” He squeaked while standing with his hand over his rapidly fluttering heart.

“Yo! Naruto you’re here too? We couldn’t find any of your teammates on our way here, but that’s probably a good thing. Sakura’s loud and no one likes Sasuke anyways” Kiba smirked at Naruto’s misfortune of being placed on that team.

“Hey take that back dog-face!” Ino swelled up in defense of her precious Sasuke.

Naruto ignored Ino’s rebuttal and replied, “Yeah, they left right after the mission was done. I’ll ask them if they want to come next week.” He sat in the middle of the table with Choji and Shikamaru on his right, Kiba and Shino on his left, leaving Ino and Hinata to be across from him. “Where’s Akamaru?” He asked absently while playing with the menu.

“He’s getting a checkup so I couldn’t bring him on the mission today.” Kiba muttered over the top of his menu. Naruto nodded at him while looking around the table. He wanted to ask the others how their tests went, but was interrupted by Ayame’s arrival.

“So…” He started after everyone ordered. “How were your guys’ genin exams? Kakashi-sensei was 3 hours late and said he hated us. Then he made us introduce ourselves and told us that almost everyone fails a super hard survival test and to not eat breakfast or else we’d throw up! But he came super late so we were starving! Did you guys do the bell test too?” Naruto asked while taking the bowls of ramen from the counter and passing them around the table. No one could make ramen as fast as Teuchi could at Ichiraku’s. He hummed as he savored his first bowl of ramen.

“Ano… Kurenai-sensei had lunch with us and we got to know each other.” Hinata shyly twirled her fingers together and stared at her bowl of Miso Ramen.

“Mmmhmmm!” Kiba agreed with his mouth full. He swallowed and spoke, “The next day we met up and she made us track her through the village which was our test. Shino already put a bug on her and Akamaru followed her perfume so it wasn’t too hard. Hinata was great! She used her Byakugan to find Kurenai-sensei in the hedges!”

“Yes. Hinata contributed greatly to our efforts of spotting Kurenai-sensei. Her skill-set complimented ours to make a tracking-and-sensing team.” Shino added as he cracked apart his chopsticks.

“Baka-kugan? What’s that?” Naruto paused between inhaling a bowl of ramen to ask.

“Naruto-baka! How can you not know what that is! It’s one of the top eye-bloodlines in Konoha! Hinata is part of the Hyuuga Clan which uses the Byakugan! It can see through everything and in all directions.” Ino sniffed at Naruto and used a napkin to dab at her face.

“Woah Hinata! That’s so cool! You have x-ray vision! Can you see through clothes?” Naruto looked at Hinata with stars in his eyes imagining all the new Sexy Jutsus he could make.

“Eeep!” Hinata blushed bright red and dropped her chopsticks.

“Naruto! You pervert! You can’t ask girls those questions!” Ino reproached and smacked the back of Naruto’s head.

“Ow! Ok, sheesh…” He muttered and rubbed the back of his head. “Anyways, so your test was about teamwork too? Kakashi-sensei told us that the genin test was about working as a team but he tried to trick us by using only two bells! Yours sounds way easier!” Naruto pouted.

“Yes, all the genin tests are about teamwork in some way. This _is_ Konoha after all, and we are known for having three-man teams,” Shikamaru yawned and lazily looked at Naruto. “Our test wasn’t too hard either.”

“Speak for yourself, Shikamaru! Asuma-sensei is just as lazy as you! He gave us the names of a villagers and we had to find out everything we could about them in an hour, while he sat there and watched us. We had to follow them around the village and listen to them buy groceries and talk about their lives. They didn’t even have any good gossip. It was so boring! But we got Asuma-sensei back for the test! We made him pay for our lunch and you know how much Choji can eat.” Ino smirked wickedly remembering how pale Asuma was when he had to pay for their meal.

Naruto winced, “Ouch! His paycheck down the drain…”

Choji grinned conspiratorially at him, “Yes, well, he did offer to pay.”

“Still…”

“Anyways,” Shikamaru interrupted. “It makes sense in a way. Team 8 is a tracking team so they had to find their sensei. We’re a capture-and-interrogate team, so we had to investigate people. Team 7 is a combat team, so I’m guessing you had to fight someone?” He raised an eyebrow at Naruto questioningly.

“Sort of. We fought Kakashi-sensei to get the two bells he had. But Kakashi-sensei was too good. I tried to hit him with my clones but he popped them all while he read his perverted book! Then he sent me flying with his Thousand-Years-of-Death and left.” Naruto winced feeling phantom pains pulsing in his backside.

“Wait, since when can you make a clone?” Kiba groused as he tried eating a slippery meat piece.

“Since I got my headband dog-breath!” Naruto scowled and threw a napkin at him. 

“How’d you get a headband anyways? Didn’t you fail the test?” Ino asked suspicious.

“I just did,” Naruto answered hurriedly, reluctant to bring up what happened with Mizuki. “Anyways, Sakura-chan was trapped in a genjutsu and when I woke her up she screamed about Sasuke and ran away. I was going to follow her but I got stuck in a trap. Sasuke fought with Kakashi-sensei and was buried in the ground to his head,” Naruto grinned, remembering how Sasuke looked when trapped in the ground. He continued, “Then the timer went off and it was too late to get any bells.”

“You guys failed your test?” Shikamaru asked as he blocked Choji’s wandering chopsticks from his plate.

“Nah, it wasn’t the real test. Kakashi-sensei then tied me to the pole and told everyone that we should go back to the academy and not to feed me. But Sasuke and Sakura-chan fed me anyways so we passed! Kakashi-sensei then told us that if we don’t follow the rules we’re trash, but if we leave a teammate behind we’re worse than trash!” He finished proudly with his chest puffed up.

There was silence for some time and then Kiba grinned at Naruto. “So… How long were you tied to that pole for?” he snickered.

Naruto sweated a little. “Well… Kakashi-sensei _is_ a jounin even though he’s a pervert. And, he can tie ropes really tightly…”

“Wait,” Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. “Did they just leave you there?”

Naruto shifted and looked away, “I think they forgot I was still tied to the pole. I mean we were all so happy we passed the test…” Kiba inhaled sharply. _What kind of team leaves one of their own behind?_ Hinata and Choji were just staring at Naruto while Shino’s bugs were buzzing agitatedly. Even Ino had some pity in her eyes. _Poor Naruto._ “I mean, I got down eventually. The villagers… _helped_ me down after some time.” He shrugged his shoulders as if saying, what can you do?

“And when exactly, did the villagers _help_ you down?” Shikamaru asked trying to keep his temper down. _How could they just leave him there?_

Naruto scrunched up his face trying to remember, “I don’t know exactly how long it was, but I remember seeing Kiba later that day so it couldn’t have been too long.”

Kiba looked stricken, “Naruto, that was three days after we met our senseis. You were there for two whole days!” His eyes widened in recognition, “And I remember that day, you were limping and bleeding! You said it was from training too hard!”

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and muttered, “It didn’t feel that long.” He felt weird that everyone was watching him with a strange look in their eyes. _Is that…concern? Strange, I thought only Iruka-sensei or Jiji get worried like that._ “I must’ve remembered the day wrong or something…” He said trying and failing to look convincing, but no one fell for it. “So, how did you guys spend the week? Any training? How was your first mission?” He tried changing the topic.

Ino opened her mouth to call him out on it, when she saw Naruto’s pleading eyes. She closed it and switched topics, “Asuma-sensei tested our chakra affinities so we’d be ready for them later on.”

“Catra affinities? What are those?” Naruto asked while shooting a small smile at Ino.

“Arghh! Naruto, it’s chakra! How did you even pass the test if you don’t even know that?” Ino ranted ruining the tense atmosphere. “They’re Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, Lightning, and a few other uncommon ones. Choji and Shika have Earth and Fire, while I have Earth and Water.”

“Kurenai-sensei says we’ll check our next week,” Hinata shyly said.

“Wow! How do you check what you have? Kakashi-sensei hasn’t even mentioned anything about that yet!” Naruto’s eyes sparkled imagining himself shooting lightning out of his eyes like laser beams.

“Do you want to check yours?” Ino asked gently, still feeling some pity towards Naruto. “I think I still have a sheet of chakra paper leftover and Team 8 is going to find out next week anyways.” She shifted few things around in her pouch and took out a small square of white paper.

“Yeah thanks Ino!” Naruto chirped in joy. “So, how do you do this?” He fingered the square of paper.

“Just channel some chakra into the paper and it’ll show you what you have,” Ino explained patiently.

“How do you channel catra-I mean chakra?” Naruto tilted his head to the side clueless.

Shikamaru groaned and put his head on the table, “Just put some chakra on the paper.”

“Ok! Why didn’t you just say that?” Naruto mumbled.

Ino facepalmed and muttered, “I’m surrounded by idiots!” Naruto focused his chakra on the paper and it split down the middle.

“That’s rare,” Shikamaru remarked. He noticed everyone looking at him confused. “To have Wind Release, I mean. Asuma-sensei and I think the fourth Hokage had it too.” He clarified.

“Yatta! I’m going to become Hokage with my cool new Wind Release! I’ll blow everyone away,” Naruto bellowed and struck a good-guy pose.

“Idiot! You have to first learn chakra control if you want to even use your Wind Release!” Ino admonished Naruto who sat back down with a pout.

“How do I do that?”

“You could do the leaf sticking exercise or climb trees. I think it’s too soon for water walking for you,” Shikamaru drawled.

“But leaf sticking doesn’t work, all the leaves just blow up, and why would climbing a tree help?” Naruto whined while looking at Shikamaru.

He huffed and said, “Then use more leaves all over your body and slowly use less until you can make five leaves stick to all your fingertips. Tree walking is when you use chakra on your feet to stick to the tree.”

“Kurenai-sensei never mentioned tree walking to us!” Kiba pouted too.

“Probably because neither of you are ready for it yet,” Shikamaru dryly responded.

“Yeah? Well I’m going to go train now and make the leaves stick to my fingers by next week! You’ll see!” Naruto yelled and jumped out of his seat. “I’m going to go train now! See you guys next week here after missions for lunch! Thanks for the ramen, Shikamaru! Bye!” Naruto waved and rushed out of the restaurant heading for the training grounds.

“Wait, Naruto-” Shikamaru began only to be cut off by Kiba.

“Ya, see you later Shika, Choji…Ino. I’m going to go train too! I can’t let Naruto beat me!” Kiba threw his money on the table and rushed out too.

“Wait, Kiba…Urghhh, never mind,” Shikamaru groaned and sank further into his seat.

“Sorry Shikamaru, but we better go and keep track of our teammate. Here is my share of the bill. Thank you for the invitation. Come on, Hinata. I’ve already bugged Kiba so we can easily find him.” Shino too rose and left the restaurant.

Hinata got up and bowed to Team 10 and said softly, “Thank you for inviting my team and I. We shall be here next week, until then.” She left her money on the table and briskly left the restaurant too.

“What were you about to say to Naruto and Kiba?” Choji asked watching Shikamaru.

“Nothing much, just that it would take several months of practice before they’ll be able to spin leaves on their fingertips and that tree walking would probably take a year for them. Especially for Naruto because he couldn’t even make a Bunshin. But it’s too late for that for that now. I’ll just tell them next week when they’re disappointed.” Ino started snickering. “What’s with you?” He stared at her wondering if she had finally cracked.

“Oh nothing… Did you check the bill yet to see how much Naruto ate?” She crowed at him and gestured towards the table.

“No, let me see” he asked and Ino handed the bill over. Shikamaru paled as read under his breath, “12 bowls. How is that even possible? Even Choji only ate 6!” He slammed his head on the table groaning while Ino and Choji laughed at him. “I’m never treating him ever again. Never again!” He muttered viciously while his teammates only laughed harder.

* * *

All the way across the village, Naruto sneezed. “Someone must be talking about me…” he muttered. “Doesn’t matter! I’ll show them all I can do this in a week! I just have to work harder!” A lightbulb flickered in his head for a brief instant of time before dying out. “I know, I’ll use shadow clones! Then I’ll be training a million times!” Naruto exclaimed and started training again.

Normally, this wouldn’t work, but this _is_ Naruto, and he’s anything but normal. He also has the healing powers of the Kyuubi, so it doesn’t destroy his brain when absorbs hundreds of clones’ memories. Instead, with each clone his brain slowly acclimates and becomes better able to assimilate larger amounts of data and forge faster connections. Naruto’s memory, associations, and chakra control all improve with each clone. Within a week (and five hundred clones) Naruto spends about 20,000 hours alone on mastering the leaf-sticking chakra control exercise. This, considering Naruto’s large amount of chakra, is just enough for him to move on to tree walking. Kiba, on the other hand, doesn’t have this luxury, and can only wallow in despair as he tries and fails to stick more leaves to his fingertips.

* * *

Kiba sneezes and swears when his leaves fall off, “Damnit! I just got two leaves to stick, which isn’t much better than the academy but still… Curse you, whoever’s talking about me!”


	2. The Second Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you for the Kudos and the Bookmarks! :) Without further ado, here's chapter 2!~
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

* * *

 

A week after the first meeting (and before the mission to wave) 

On the bridge, Team 7 was splitting up the money after another annoying but successful D-rank. “Okay, my cute little genin, looks like we have 25,000 ryo. Now since I’m your sensei, I get 10,000 ryo and each of you get 5,000 ryo.” Kakashi eye-smiled.

“But, sensei! You just sat there and read Icha Icha! It’s not fair that you get so much. You didn’t even help out!” Naruto yelled.

“Hn!” Sasuke grunted in agreement.

“Yeah, cheapskate-sensei, I think we should get 8,000 ryo each and you 1,000 ryo. It’s only fair!” Sakura shrieked making everyone wince.

“Maa maa. Are my small adorable students saying they want more endurance training in the mornings and that I should take more catching Tora missions?” Kakashi asked with a glint in his eyes.

“No sensei! We’re happy with what we got! Yay! 5,000 ryo!” Naruto hurriedly replied as Sasuke and Sakura frantically shook their heads.

“Good, I see those teamwork lessons have been working for all of you to agree in unison. Ok, I’ll see you tomorrow here at 7am sharp! Ja ne!” Kakashi said before flickering away in a sphere of lightning.

“Show off!” grumbled Naruto. He noticed Sakura and Sasuke were still there and decided to ask if they wanted to join the meeting with Team 8 and 10. “Hey Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, do you guys want to come with me to eat lunch with Teams 8 and 10?” Sasuke only scoffed before striding away. “Sakura-chan?” Naruto prompted again, hopeful that at least one of his teammates would want to hang out with him.

Sakura snapped out of her Sasuke-induced stupor and said, “Naruto-baka, I don’t want to go on a date with you! I like Sasuke-kun!” She shot him a death glare before racing after Sasuke.

“Wait, Sakura-chan!” Naruto tried again, but she was already out of sight. Naruto sighed and heard his stomach rumble. He opened up Gama-chan, his trusty toad wallet, and checked how much ryo he had left, “With today’s 5,000 that makes 12,760 ryo, just enough for 3 bowls of ramen! I guess I can spend a bit today; it is the weekend so maybe Jiji will eat with me one day and I can always ask Iruka-sensei to treat me!” He looked at the time and saw he was running late, “Dattebayo, I need to run!” He stuffed some leaves in his pocket and took off to Ichiraku’s. “I hope they haven’t started without me!”

* * *

“Urgh! What’s taking them so long. I want to see my Sasuke-kun!” Ino wailed with hearts in her eyes. They pulsed each time she thought of how wonderful Sasuke was.

“We’ll wait five more minutes before giving up on Team 7, ok? Just calm down,” Shikamaru started edging away towards the tables, getting more and more creeped out by the glittering hearts in Ino’s eyes.

“How’s she even doing that?” Kiba whimpered to Choji, who just shrugged, used to it already. Hinata’s eyes suddenly snapped up and started becoming heart-shaped. Kiba watched her with mounting horror. “It’s spreading! Make Ino stop,” he hissed at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru snorted and said, “That’s not why, someone’s arrived.” The door to Ichiraku’s swung open and Naruto jogged towards them sweating and panting hard.

“Hey guys! How’s your week been?” he asked and plopping into a chair nearby.

“It has been a very good week so far, Naruto. My Kikaichu are especially happy. Thank you for asking,” Shino spoke suddenly, startling everyone as he was right behind them.

“Shino! I told you to stop doing that! Akamaru’s here too, cool.” Naruto noticed happily.

“Naruto where’s Sasuke-kun?” Ino demanded.

“Sasuke-teme didn’t want to come and Sakura-chan thought I was trying to trick her or something…” Naruto said a little sullenly.

“Let’s order some ramen,” Choji said trying to cheer Naruto up, not liking the frown on his usually happy face.

“So how many leaves did you get to spin, Naruto?” Kiba asked competitively. _Can’t be more than my five. He did suck at this at the academy._

Naruto brightened up and took out the leaves he stuffed into his pocket before coming. “Check it out!” he said proudly and showed off the ten leaves rotating on his fingertips. He grinned widely at Team 10’s gaping faces. “See I could so do it too! Thanks for telling me about it Shikamaru!” He beamed at Shikamaru who’s mouth hung wide open.

“How? Wait, what? That shouldn’t even be possible. A week ago, you were burning leaves and you couldn’t even make them stick to you but now you can! What the heck! This doesn’t even make any sense!” Shikamaru spluttered.

“Yeah, and I even almost got tree walking down too.” Naruto smiled widely with his eyes closed and his hand rubbing the back of his head.

“Damn, you beat me. I only got one hand to make it work. And that too, only works sometimes. How’d you do it so fast?” Kiba asked jealously while Shikamaru continued muttering about how impossible this was.

“I used my clones and made them do it too so I could train more,” he explained and looked at Shikamaru as if he was dumb for not understanding.

“What? That doesn’t make sense! Clones are only illusions. Even if they copied the same actions as you, it wouldn’t matter because they couldn’t pick up the leaves,” Ino pointed out confused.

“My clones are different! They’re solid. Here, watch. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” Naruto yelled and a double appeared in a burst of smoke.

“Yo, Boss! We should do the magic trick!” The clone exclaimed conspiringly.

“Good idea! Hinata whisper a number into my clone’s ear and write the same number on a piece of paper and hide it. Ok, done?”

“Eeep. I mean, yes,” Hinata blushed while shyly hiding the folded piece of paper underneath a bowl of ramen on the table.

“Ok, Kiba punch my clone.” Naruto commanded while feeding Akamaru some steak.

“What? But isn’t it just going to go thorough it?” he asked confused.

“Just do it!”

“Oh-kay…” he said before punching the clone which disappeared into a puff of smoke.

“Is the number 8?”

“Yes. H-how did you know that?” Hinata stuttered.

“It’s a shadow clone, which means they are solid and can be used for training because the maker gets the clone’s memories back” Shikamaru clarified.

“What! Why didn’t we learn that clone at the academy instead?” Kiba whined.

“Because it takes way too much chakra for a genin to use. You’d have to be a jounin to actually use it, and even then, you’d only be able to use one or two.”

“What? But I can make like 500!” Naruto said spreading his hands out in front of him.

“How much chakra do you have? That’s like two or three Kage’s worth! And even if you can make that much you shouldn’t because it could fry your brains with that many memories. How’d you even learn it anyways? It’s a kinjutsu and forbidden to learn.” Shika wondered doubtful.

“What? No, I was fine. Plus, I’m an Uzumaki! I’ve got super healing and stuff. And, Jiji said I could because I have too much chakra for the Bunshin,” Naruto replied, happy that the Hokage made an excuse so he didn’t have to explain about Mizuki.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to take into account that you are part of the Uzumaki clan known for their large chakra levels, no chakra control, great vitality, and masters of seals,” Shikamaru said thoughtful as he rubbed his chin in a thinking position.

“Naruto’s part of a clan?” Ino asked, interested.

“I have a clan?” Naruto asked also confused but interested.

“Yeah, you didn’t know?” Shikamaru frowned.

“How can you not know?” Choji wondered as he placed another dumpling on his plate.

Naruto flinched slightly and shrugged, “You know I’m an orphan. It’s not like there’s anyone to really tell me.”

“What about your Jiji? You talked about him before,” Kiba asked while slurping his soup.

“I meant Hokage-Jiji. He’s the closest thing to a family I’ve ever had, but he’s busy. So, we can’t meet all the time and talk much. He eats ramen with me sometimes, though.”

“What about the orphanage? Didn’t anyone ever tell you there?” Hinata asked. Naruto laughed bitterly, surprising the others. _As if they’d care about me. They hate me._

“I’ve been living on my own ever since I was four when I left the orphanage.” Naruto sighed, not really wanting to talk about why he was kicked out. “It wasn’t too bad living alone, just lonely. But Jiji bought me an apartment and even pays the rent. So, he’s like the grandpa I’ve never had. Him and Iruka-sensei are like family. Iruka-sensei even taught me how to read when he found out I couldn’t in my second year at the academy!”

Shikamaru made a little choking noise, “You didn’t know how to read before?”

Naruto started looking uncomfortable again, “No one really taught me how and Jiji’s busy with the village and his own family. Iruka-sensei noticed and helped, so it’s all good now anyways.” Naruto tried changing the topic, “So, what did you guys do this week? Any new missions or training?”

Shino caught on and replied, “Kurenai-sensei showed us our chakra affinities. Kiba only has Earth, while Hinata has Fire and Lightning. I have Earth and Fire like Shikamaru and Choji. Lightning is also rare in Konoha. I believe Kakashi-sensei also has Lightning.”

“Really?” Naruto asked surprised.

“You guys still haven’t learnt about chakra affinities yet?” Kiba asked.

“No, Kakashi-sensei is still making us do teamwork exercises until we can fully trust our teammates to become our new hands and feet, whatever that means…” Naruto pouted remembering about all the teamwork exercises they’d done. “We haven’t even talked about chakra affinities yet or learned any new jutsus!”

“That’s strange. Even Asuma-sensei, who’s as lazy as Shikamaru, taught us a few campfire jutsus.” Feeling guilty again, Ino asks if everyone wanted to practice the jutus their senseis taught them. “We can go to a training field after eating and share the jutsus our senseis taught us and even spar a little. Later we can even work on our chakra affinities together because some of us have the same ones.”

“Ino, you actually said something smart!” Shikamaru sounded shocked as he looked at Ino with wide eyes.

Ino shrieked, “Shika!” and smacked the back of his head. “Ignore him! Anyways we can trade jutsus after eating. So, is everyone done or are they still eating?”

“It looks like we have all eaten. Unless someone wants more ramen?” Shino asked Naruto if he was going to order anymore.

“Nope, I’m done for today Shino!” Naruto smiled widely while he placed his money on the table and piled his three bowls on the side counter.

“What? Only three bowls today, Naruto? What happened to eating 12 like last time?” Ino teased as they exited the shop.

Naruto laughed and replied, “Yeah, I used up all my money today as a treat, so I can’t get any more until tomorrow’s 5,000 ryo.”

“You guys only make 15,000 a day on missions?” Ino asked shocked. “We make around 40,000 each a day!”

“No, we make around 25,000 ryo on one mission per day. Kakashi-sensei always comes three hours late so we only have time for two missions at most, and he wants us to work on our teamwork most of the time so we only take one mission anyways.”

“What happens to the remaining 10,000 ryo?” Shikamaru asked.

“Kakashi-sensei takes it as payment for watching us work,” Naruto complained annoyed at Kakashi.

“That’s not right! Kurenai-sensei doesn’t take any money from our missions!” Kiba protested.

“Yeah, neither does Asuma-sensei. Don’t Sakura or Sasuke complain?” Choji dissented.

“Not much. They want more money, but I don’t think it really matters for them. Sakura still lives with her parents and Sasuke has a lot of money from his clan. For me, well, I’m living off the pay…” he paused to look at the forest. “I’m thinking of growing a garden if Kakashi-sensei doesn’t let us take more missions. For now, I can find food in the forest and weapons on the training grounds. And Jiji and Iruka-sensei sometimes treat me.” Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up. “Besides, I’m practicing rationing and how to live of the land. Every ninja needs to know how to do that anyways. I’m pretty good at it too!” Naruto smiled remembering how bad he used to be at catching fish when he was six. “Now I can catch fish in a minute and trap animals in five. There’s nothing like the real world to train for the living in the wild.” He said fondly.

Team 8 and 10 glanced at each other, clearly not liking that Naruto had to literally hunt for food. There was nothing they could do for him now, but they promised to help him out in the future.

On their way to the training fields, Ino, Hinata, and Choji talked about what snacks they could bring to these get-togethers while Shino and Shikamaru told Naruto about some cheap plants he could grow and harvest soon. Kiba and Akamaru were on the lookout for an empty training ground that was big enough for all eight of them.

* * *

At the training ground, Team 8 decided to show the rest what they learned first. “Ano, Kurenai-sensei taught us how the campfire three: how to light a campfire, put one out, and erase its tracks.” Hinata explained while showing them how to do each jutsu.

“Oh, I know those! Jiji taught them to me when I was five. He said they’d help, when he found out I was hunting for food in the forest. They also help for pranks!” Naruto said excitedly.

“Naruto-baka, how can they help with pranks, unless you light something on fire!” Ino rebuked.

“You can use them for different things. Like the light is good to use in the dark as a flashlight, but if you put enough chakra in it, you can make it a firework. See, watch!” He did the hand signs for the jutsu and pointed towards the sky. A large sparking flame flew into the sky and with a bang burst into little sparks like a firework.

“What’s the point of that?” Kiba sneezed at the remaining smoke in the air.

“You can use it to signal a teammate if you’re in trouble,” Shikamaru suggested.

“Yeah, and with the water one, you can make different amounts of water with different amounts of chakra, and since it’s clean you can drink it, make soup, or refresh yourself with a mist bath when it’s super-hot outside. If you combine it with the first jutsu you can make hot water which is perfect for making ramen!” Naruto drooled thinking about the ramen he made with it.

“We could make ramen and soup away from home on missions!” Choji’s eyes gleamed, picturing all the dried food he could bring with him on missions from now on.

“The last one is the best, though. You can use it to erase tracks on fireplaces and footprints, but if you use it on yourself, then you’re untraceable. Here, I’ll show you. Shino, can you bug me? And can you smell me Kiba and Akamaru?” Shino nodded and Kiba gave Naruto a thumbs-up. “Ok, now I’m going to do the jutsu.” He made the hand signs and performed the jutsu on himself. “Okay, now can you track me Kiba and Akamaru or can you use your bug to find me Shino?” Akamaru sniffed the air and walked around in a circle while Kiba also tried to track Naruto’s scent.

“That’s so weird! You were right there, but now it’s like you don’t exist anymore.” Kiba said as he walked in a circle around Naruto.

“Yes, I cannot feel my connection to my Kikaichu anymore, nor can I find a trace of you anymore.” Shino frowned, put-off that he couldn’t feel one of his companions.

“Oh, here’s your Kikaichu back,” Naruto carefully handed back the beetle to Shino who looked relieved he could feel its connection again. “Ok, I’m going to do it again,” Naruto said and activated the jutsu once more. “Hinata can you see me when you use your Byakugan?” Hinata tried them and was shocked.

“No, I cannot see you anymore. Your chakra signature is gone. It doesn’t seem to exist anymore.” Hinata’s eyes stopped bulging as she stopped using her Byakugan.

Naruto laughed and said, “I used to use that jutsu to hide myself from the ANBU after a prank. Only Iruka-sensei could ever find me, but that’s because he used to be a prankster too, so he knows all the good hiding spots. Don’t worry, though. If you use more chakra in your Byakugan than I use for the jutsu then you should be able to see me according to the tests Jiji did.”

“Naruto, do you know what that jutsu means? If a rouge nin ever used it then we wouldn’t be able to ever track them down. They could sneak into the village and do anything. You can’t teach that to anyone,” Shikamaru said urgently.

“I know. Jiji wanted to know why the ANBU couldn’t find me. When I told him, he said that I couldn’t teach it to anyone who could betray the village, but I trust you guys.” He looked up at them and continued, “You’re all my friends. I want you to be safe. That’s why you guys have to learn how to do those jutsus without seals because it’s an A-ranked secret according to Jiji.” Hinata and Ino blushed as they looked at Naruto, while the boys felt touched that he thought that highly of them. “Also, can you guys have to keep it a secret. Jiji said only I can tell you guys about it after we learned the campfire three from our senseis, and I haven’t told Sakura-chan or Sasuke-teme about it yet. I guess Kakashi-sensei doesn’t think they are ready for it yet. Besides, they haven’t exactly been the nicest to me, so I don’t know if I can trust them with it yet. I know that you all know the dangers of A-ranked secrets falling into the wrong hands. But Sakura-chan doesn’t know yet, and I don’t think Sasuke-teme cares about that.” Naruto finished looking each member of Team 8 and 10 in the eye to emphasize the severity of revealing this to them.

“I guess we’ll just have to train harder then, and learn how to do them without seals,” Shikamaru drawled. Naruto smiled at him brightly, glad that his trust hadn’t been misplaced.

Ino spoke up, “Asuma-sensei taught us the same three jutsus. So, it’s weird Kakashi-sensei didn’t teach you guys those three. You really think he doesn’t think you guys are ready for it yet?”

“Yeah or maybe Jiji told him I knew them, and he thought Sasuke and Sakura also knew them?” Naruto suggested and shrugged his shoulders dismissing the topic.

“Yeah, maybe,” Ino said, still not fully convinced. “Asuma-sensei didn’t teach us anymore jutsus, but he made us practice the basic three a lot. He really likes throwing things at us and making us Kawarimi.”

“Did he tell you that you can Kawarimi with air?” Naruto asked.

“I didn’t know you could do that!” Kiba said excitedly and tried to do it. “Why didn’t it work?” He asked when the jutsu failed.

“Try using more cat-chakra and pretending that the air is an object you want to replace with.” Kiba tried again and this time it worked.

“Wow that’s so cool! Now I don’t need to walk anywhere. I can just Kawarimi there.”

“Jiji says that if you can picture a place far away and use a lot of chakra then the Kawarimi becomes Sunshine” Naruto happily stated before showing it to them.

Shikamaru chortled, “I think you mean Shunshin. Asuma-sensei sometimes does it and leaves behind leaves.”

“I can do the teleporting part, but I don’t get how you make the leaves.” Naruto said confused.

“I think they use some chakra to unseal a scroll of leaves which makes smoke too.”

“What’s the point of it?”

“Maybe they just want to look pretty, though I don’t get why they’d want to use leaves. Flowers are much better!” _And if they bought them from my shop, it would really drive up sales!_ Ino thought with a gleam in her eyes.

“I believe they use it confuse the enemy and make it so they cannot be tracked. Or jounin just use it because they are used to it.” Shino supplemented.

“Well, at least Kawarimi has a use, but Bunshin and Henge are useless!” Ino moaned.

“What? Henge is awesome!” Naruto defended. “You can become anyone and anything!”

“No, you can’t. You can’t become objects or become smaller than yourself. And it isn’t even solid. It’s just an illusion like Bunshin!”

“Bunshin is useless, it’s too bad you can’t learn shadow clone. But I think you’re doing Henge wrong. When I use it for my Orioke no Jutsu or become a weapon, I’m solid. See?” Naruto became a kunai while everyone just stared at him with wide eyes.

“That’s not supposed to happen either,” Shikamaru whispered faintly.

Naruto changed back and said, “I can teach you guys this version too, because I made it up! It’s also an A-rank secret. The trick is to only use the Ram hand seal and to use way more chakra. Like the presence erasing campfire-three jutsu, you guys can only hold this up for about a few seconds because the drain’s like five Kage Bunshin’s worth. But if you use it enough, then your reserves should grow and you’d be able to hold it up for longer. I think you guys can probably hold it up for at most 15 seconds right now. It’s super useful though! You can change into any size, gender, animal, or object. Jiji said to be careful though because you can become pregnant if you become a girl, but he didn’t explain what he meant.” Naruto pouted again with a small frown wondering what The Talk Jiji was always saying he needed to give him was about. He stopped spacing out when he heard Kiba choking and saw that everyone was blushing. “You guys know about The Talk and what Jiji was talking about, don’t you?” He asked suspicious. Kiba made a strange whining noise again and Shino’s Kikaichu seemed to be buzzing louder. Hinata, Ino, and Choji were all still blushing heavily while Akamaru put his paws over his head.

Shikamaru’s face still had a pink tinge when he turned to Naruto and said, “It’s more of a thing your family tells you. And you said that the Hokage was the closest thing you have to family, so you’ll just have to wait for him to tell you. Think of it as a family secret.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll have to wait.” Naruto sulked a bit while the rest sighed in relief.

“Why don’t you show us your special Henge again and we’ll copy it,” Ino persuaded.

“Okay!” Naruto happily agreed.


	3. The Third Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks for the comments, kudos, and bookmarks! This week I'm uploading two chapters because I am going to be out of the country until July 10th and I won't have access to a computer or the internet. In compensation, these two chapters are extra long! I'm still editing the next chapter, so I'm going to post this one first. 
> 
> Sorry, I've been having updating issues, if you see this chapter being posted multiple times and stuff...
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

* * *

 

Before the third meeting (still before Wave)

Deep in the Forest of Death, by a stream. A young blonde was fishing with no luck. Unknown to the blonde, Tora had recently taken to hiding from genin upstream, making the fish too scared to stray further downstream. _Any minute now I’ll catch a fish. Any second now… Come on, fishy, fishy, fishy, where are you?_ A grumble snapped the whiskered blonde out of his thoughts. He growled in frustration and threw his rod into the stream. _I’m sooooo hungry! Stupid fish. Stupid villagers. Stupid Kakashi-sensei._ He looked around his fishing spot and spotted some mushrooms. _I wonder…_ He crouched near the mushrooms. _They look just like the ones Iruka-sensei said civilians cook with. Should I eat them?_ He looked at the mushrooms and bit his lip. Looking around one more time, he made up his mind. _No one will mind if I take them._ He grinned mischievously and started harvesting the mushrooms. _Guess I’m having grilled mushrooms for lunch!_

* * *

In Konoha there stood a tower that overlooked the village. In this tower, a man sat next to a crystal ball doing his paperwork. Wait, what’s this? He’s not actually doing his work, but is reading the new edition of Icha Icha! Yes, you got it right, this man, the leader of this village, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, is actually reading porn! Why are we watching the Hokage read porn, you ask? That is because today’s story starts with him.

“Jiji, you keep saying that you have to tell me about The Talk, but you keep forgetting to do it! It’s not fair, all my friends know about it and I want to know about it too!” a voice whined.

“Hmmm, yes. What’s this about your friends? Were they the ones I saw in the crystal ball that you taught your A-rank secret jutsus too? Is there a certain S-ranked secret you want to tell them about too?” The Third peered down at Naruto with a smirk as he pretended to do paperwork.

Naruto looked away and muttered, “Maybe someday, Jiji, but not yet. Stop changing the subject! Those same friends of mine told me that your family tells you about The Talk, and that because I think of you as the closest thing I have to family, it means you have to tell me about it.” Naruto stared at the Hokage with his infamous puppy eyes.

 _Why’d they tell him that! The next time I see those brats, I’m definitely assigning them the most torturous D-ranks!_ He saw Naruto looking at him expectantly. _If I don’t tell him now, he’ll think I don’t think of him as family. Minato, what am I supposed to do now? I can’t destroy that innocence in his eyes._ Hiruzen thought avoiding Naruto’s bright innocent eyes. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you Naruto, it’s just that…” He trailed unable to finish.

“Oh.” Naruto began to droop.

“No, no, it’s just that the one in your family who tells you should be the closest to your age” he rambled, a plan forming in his mind. “In fact, don’t you think of Iruka as your big brother? You should ask him to tell you about The Talk. Here give him this note and tell him it’s the Hokage’s orders.” _Perfect now Iruka has to tell him. It’s good being Hokage._

Naruto looked wide-eyed at Hiruzen and jumped up to hug him, “Thanks, Jiji!” he yelled and ran off to find Iruka.

* * *

After a long morning of training, Team 8 was taking a break to eat lunch. They were sitting on a picnic blanket and Hinata was holding a basket of food. “Wow! It tastes wonderful Hinata! The crunchy things are really yummy!” Kiba said with his mouth full, crumbs flying everywhere.

“Hinata, the cut fruit are delicious. My Kikaichu convey their thanks.” Shino tipped his head towards Hinata.

“Thanks Kiba, Shino. I am glad you like them. I was going to bring some on the weekend to share with the other teams.”

“You mean Naruto,” Kiba teased, while Hinata ducked her head and blushed. “It’s obvious you like him Hinata. You’re lucky he doesn’t notice. He’s as thick as a brick.”

Hinata looked down once more and said, “No, he doesn’t notice because of his feelings to Sakura.”

“Hinata is most likely correct,” Shino analyzed.

“Shut up, Shino! No one asked you anyways. Naruto probably doesn’t even know why he likes Sakura.” Kiba patted Hinata’s back.

“He is on his way. Perhaps, we can ask him and settle it once and for all.” Shino looked at the path keenly.

“Eh! He is coming here right now?” Hinata squeaked anxiously.

“Calm down, Hinata. Kiba shall do the talking.” Shino said as Naruto walked towards them.

“Hey, guys! Have you seen Iruka-sensei? He wasn’t at the academy and I need to talk to him.”

“Sorry, Naruto, we didn’t see him, but I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you like Sakura?” Kiba blurted out.

Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head before speaking, “It’s because she was the first one I remember to smile at me and play with me in the park. No one else even looked at me when I was little. But I don’t think she remembers.” He smiled sadly. The look was so strange on his face that Kiba immediately wanted it gone.

“What if someone else liked you and wanted to smile with you?” he asked.

Naruto snapped his head up to Kiba, stunned. “Kiba…I never knew you felt that way! I’m sorry but I cannot return your feelings.” He started tearing up while Hinata hid her face and giggled. Shino too was shaking from suppressed laughter.

“What? No! Not me! I’m not in love with you!” Kiba practically squealed. “I meant someone in general, not me.” He looked scandalized that Naruto even suggested that.

“Phew,” Naruto sighed relieved. “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but the truth is even if Sakura-chan told me she wanted to go out with me right now, I’d turn her down. Although I care about her, and I want to let her know of my feelings towards her, I cannot love anyone yet.”

“Why not?” Kiba asked bewildered while Shino and Hinata listened intently.

“Because I am not strong enough to protect someone yet,” Naruto smiled dreamily before walking away leaving Team 8 confused. Caught up in their thoughts they did not hear him murmur, “And I do not understand what _love_ means anyways…”

* * *

 _Where is Iruka-sensei? He needs to tell me about The Talk!_ Naruto wondered as he left the academy, Iruka nowhere in sight. _Maybe Team 10 will know, I’ll go ask them._

* * *

Iruka was picking up some herbs in the forest to show his students when he felt a strange shiver run down his back. He stopped picking the mushrooms and wondered what the bad feeling was about. _Must be nothing. I’m getting paranoid._ He shrugged and looked down at the mushrooms he collected. _Hmm, there seems to be a lot of Dreamy Truth Mushrooms, I better warn everyone not to eat them._ Iruka chuckled and remembered how Naruto always mixed up these mushrooms with the more harmless Cooking Mushrooms that civilians use. _I hope he’s grown out of that habit. At least these aren’t Moulding Mushrooms, now those are poisonous and way worse!_ He shuddered at the thought of Naruto eating those.

* * *

Team 10 was also trying out some cooking after a morning of training. “So, how does it taste?”

“It’s a lot better than the burnt rocks Ino brought. Nice work, Choji!” Shikamaru smacked his lips appreciatively.

“Shut up, Shika! It was my first time. Next time they’ll taste so good, you’ll be begging for more! I’ll even get Choji to help me, just wait and see!” Ino’s eyes flared with anger. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at her.

“That’ll be the day,” he muttered under his breath. He squinted a bit when he noticed an orange blur in the distance that looked like it was coming closer. “Is that…Naruto?”

“Who else wears an orange jumpsuit? Or a jumpsuit period?” Ino demanded.

* * *

Somewhere in Konoha, two bowl-haired men wearing green-jumpsuits sneezed. “Lee, I think someone complimented our most youthful uniforms! Let us run 12 more laps around Konoha to show everyone the Springtime of Youth!”

“Yosh! Gai-sensei!”

“Lee!”

“Gai-sensei!”

“Lee!”

Somewhere in the distance, an unfortunate bystander caught in the display moaned, “Make it stop! My eyes! They burn!” That villager was admitted into the psych ward, never to return. To this day, no one knows what is wrong with him. _The fearsome power of the Youthful Sunset Genjutsu shows itself once more._ Any ninja who saw the man thought. Poor civilians, unable to stand up to its fearsome might due to their lack of chakra. This incident begins the Legend of the Sunset, but that is another story.

* * *

Naruto approached Team 10 and asked, “Hey, did you guys see Iruka-sensei?”

“Nope, sorry Naruto,” Choji said between munching his chips.

“Hey, Naruto, why do you always wear an orange jumpsuit?”

“Although I do love the color orange, if I had a choice I would not wear so much of it every day. It is the only thing the villagers will sell to me. They told me the orange would make enemy nin spot me so they could kill me faster and refused to sell me anything else.” He smiled melancholily. Ino didn’t like it at all. “The bright orange really helps train my stealth, though. Now I can hide from all ANBU trackers in plain sight even without using that special jutsu! Which is good because it drains way too much chakra…”

“Why don’t you try to buy from the traveling merchants or dye your clothes?”

“Everyone overcharges me because they hate me so I don’t have enough money to buy anything but food.” Choji and Shikamaru were watching Naruto with wide-eyes.

“What did you do to them? Why do they hate you so much?” Ino asked distressed.

“I was born. They hate my existence and wish I would die,” Naruto said simply before drifting away, leaving Team 10 standing there in shock.

“I know Naruto does a few pranks here and there, but to hate him that much because of them?” Choji asked shocked.

“It might be his parents they hate,” Shikamaru suggested. “But, that doesn’t make sense either. Naruto is an Uzumaki which was like a sister to Konoha before they got wiped out. We even wear their swirl on our jackets to show our partnership with them. They should be treating Naruto like Sasuke, not an outcast.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Ino groaned.

* * *

Naruto skipped along the path to the academy deciding to look their again for Iruka. “Iruka-sensei! Are you there?” He called out while sticking his head into the teacher’s break room.

“Naruto what are you looking for?” Iruka asked with concern noticing Naruto looked a little strange. _It’s almost as if he… No, it must be just my paranoia._ Shaking his thoughts away, he refocused on Naruto. “What’s this?” he asked about the note Naruto was giving him.

“Jiji said you have to tell me about The Talk because you’re the closest thing I have to family that’s near my age and are like my big brother. Hokage’s orders!” Iruka paled at the words: The Talk. He looked at the note and saw:

* * *

  _Iruka,_

_It is time for you to let a child blossom into a man and follow the path of fire!_

_Congratulations on being the one to tell Naruto about The Talk._

_He’s excited to hear about this family secret from his big brother!_

_Don’t disappoint him,_

_Hiruzen Sarutobi_

_P.S. You have no choice. Hokage’s Orders. :)_

* * *

Iruka cleared his throat a few times trying to think of the best way to put this so Naruto understood. “So, Naruto…Remember how girls and boys are different? Well, sometimes when a boy grows up he and he really likes a girl…”

“Like Sakura-chan?”

“Yeah or a boy in some cases... Anyways, when two people love each other they get married and want to have a family.”

“I don’t think I could ever have a family. They might get hurt by my enemies.”

“Trust me, one day you will want a family and kids. Even though it is hard to protect them, it’s worth it in the end,” Iruka smiled at Naruto.

“Do you want one?”

“Not yet, I’m waiting for the right special someone. So, after marriage, if you want kids you have to have a boy and a girl. You can either be born this way or use your Orioke no Jutsu for this, but you have to have a boy and a girl. Then the boy…um…is like a bee and goes into…a…”

“Mouth? Kiba said his sister swallowed a bee once.”

“No, wait actually sometimes yes, you know what forget about the bee. So, the boy is like a…a…stick, yes the boy is like a popsicle stick and you stick him into some water which is the girl and they freeze in the fridge for eight to nine months and you have a baby popsicle!”

“What so the mom eats a baby and poops it out? Is that why they’re so fat? From eating popsicle babies?”

“No…” Iruka groaned wondering how to say this. _I guess I’ll just have to be blunt, otherwise Naruto will never get it._ “Ok, listen closely, Naruto because I’m only going to say this once. So, a man sticks himself into a girl using his---”

“Wait, are you talking about sex?” Iruka sweat-dropped.

“You already knew about sex?”

“Yeah, Iruka-sensei. How else could I make my Orioke no Jutsu so lifelike without seeing it? Plus, I lived in the red-light district for a bit when I was four and the orphanage kicked me out. Of course, I know about sex, but what does that have to do with babies?”

“Oh, this is much easier. So, two people have sex as a boy and a girl to make babies. When the man releases into the girl, a baby can form inside the girl. That’s why people have to be careful when they make love. Wait, you never mentioned living there to me,” Iruka fretted, concerned about Naruto.

“It wasn’t that long, and Jiji found me soon after. But I’ll never forget the things I saw while I was there. I just don’t talk about it because it makes Jiji sad and people don’t really like hearing about it. Actually, I don’t know why I mentioned it right now either.” He smiled vacantly at Iruka, who frowned at him, filing that piece of information away for later.

“Naruto, did you eat mushrooms you found in the forest again?” Iruka asked sternly.

“Maybe…” Naruto whistled and looked away from Iruka-sensei.

“Naruto!” Iruka threatened.

“Okay, I only ate a few because I was so hungry and saw them near the place I fish. And I only ate the ones that look like the ones in the market place and I cooked them before I ate them. I was just soooo hungry and no fish were biting. I think they were spooked by the thunderstorm.”

“Okay, Naruto I understand. You must have mistakenly eaten Dreamy Truth Mushrooms. They make you tell the truth to everything and make you forget about the stuff you didn’t want to say. It’ll be like waking from a dream after they wear off. It should’ve kicked in sometime after your meeting with the Third. You should remember what we talked about here but you’ll probably forget about some of the stuff earlier in the day. Did you talk to anyone else today?”

“Yeah, I talked to Teams 8 and 10, but I can’t really remember what I said to them.”

“You better go tell them that you accidentally ate some Dreamy Truth Mushrooms so they don’t get worried about you.”

“Okay, thanks Iruka-sensei!” Naruto yelled over his shoulder as he ran out to find his friends.

“Yup, anytime kiddo!” Iruka chuckled and sat back at his desk. _Now I just need to get back at the Hokage for making me give Naruto The Talk. I think I’ll make him do extra paperwork and hide his Icha Icha from him tomorrow._ Iruka cackled creepily to himself, while Hiruzen suddenly felt a few cold shivers travel down his spine.

* * *

  

The Third Meeting (and two weeks before the C-Rank to Wave)

The next day, Teams 8 and 10 were worried for Naruto and it showed in their missions. Kurenai noticed Hinata kept staring at the sky and sighing, while Kiba kept muttering about love and protection? Even Shino seemed more aggravated than usual; his bugs buzzing nonstop noisily. _What is wrong with them today? Did Kiba confess to Hinata and did she reject him? Is Shino jealous of Kiba or Hinata? I guess I’ll have to follow them today to find out._

Asuma, on the other side of the village, was deciding to follow his genin team too. Shikamaru was painting the fence with the wrong side of his brush and didn’t even notice! Choji wasn’t munching on chips like usual. Instead, he looked like he was…fussing?...over a picnic basket. Even Ino was less noisy today. In fact, she hadn’t shouted at anyone the whole day. She was sitting under the tree…sleeping? _There is something going on here. Either Shika got Ino pregnant and Choji is in charge of Ino’s diet or I’m missing something here. Yup, there is nothing to do but to stalk- I mean watch them for the rest of the day._

And that’s why when Teams 8 and 10 met at Ichiraku’s they were followed by their jounin senseis. Asuma and Kurenai were in the same booth watching their genin wait for something. “So, what do you think they’re doing, Kurenai?”

“I do not know Asuma. Perhaps they are planning a surprise birthday party for a friend? They seem distressed for some reason…”

“Yes, missions today were more of a pain than usual. None of them were even paying attention. Then again, the missions were all D-ranks…”

“Maybe they’re plotting together to get a C-rank?” Asuma was about to reply when he noticed the genin look up at the door. They were clearly waiting for someone. The door opened and a big orange blur joined the genin at the table. “It’s too bad we cannot hear from here,” Kurenai lamented.

Asuma smirked and held a small device in front of the table, “I bugged the table they’re sitting at.”

They heard Naruto’s voice come through first, “Hey guys! How have you been? Kakashi-sensei still won’t let us take more than one mission and is still taking a lot of the pay so I can’t buy any ramen today either…” He grimaced at the thought of no ramen.

Asuma and Kurenai were appalled that Kakashi took some of his genin’s mission pay for D-ranks. _He doesn’t even give them enough to live off of._ They thought heatedly.

“Instead of buying food, we thought it would be better to bring food and have a potluck type of meeting!” Ino excitedly brought out a basket of food. “Choji made most of the food, but I helped decorate the cookies.” She smiled proudly.

“We too have brought food.” Shino added as Hinata placed a small basket on the table. “I contributed some honey and Kiba some meat, while Hinata made the food.”

“Wow! I’ll bring something next time. I didn’t know we were bringing food to this meeting. I was a bit…indisposed…yesterday so I forgot to ask my teammates if they wanted to come,” Naruto scratched the back of his head while smiling sheepishly.

“Yeah you said some things yesterday,” Kiba began only to be cut off by Naruto.

“I don’t remember what I said to you guys yesterday. I accidentally ate some Dreamy Truth Mushrooms so I have no idea what I told you, but everything I said was the truth. You literally cannot lie, according to Iruka-sensei, when you eat those mushrooms.”

“Is it true Naruto-kun? That you wish to become stronger before loving someone?” Hinata asked shyly.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head before answering, “Yeah, if I want to love someone enough to have a family with them then I need to be strong enough to first protect those precious to me.”

“But why would you have to protect them to love them?” Kiba asked confused. Akamaru yipped in agreement. Naruto took some time to answer this.

“…There have only been two people to ever love me: Jiji and Iruka-sensei. I think my parents loved me…but I’m not sure. Jiji won’t tell me much about them. When I love someone, I don’t want to have to leave them and I don’t want them to leave me. I already lost my parents, and I almost lost Iruka-sensei too. I don’t want to lose anyone ever again so I have to get strong enough to be able to protect them and me.”

Asuma and Kurenai winced remembering the report of a windmill shuriken almost killing Iruka when he confronted Mizuki in the forest.

“That sounds very admirable Naruto. I agree with your statements and commend you for thinking about love that way,” Shino approved. He nodded at Naruto who was blushing. He didn’t mean to say that much. It all just came tumbling out. _I guess those mushrooms are still making me weird. But, it felt nice to say that._

There was some silence as everyone chewed their food. “Mmmm! Who made this? It’s delicious!” Naruto’s thoughts quickly became consumed by the mouthwatering honey barbequed meat.

“Yes! I want the recipe! I love barbecued meat and this is almost as good as Yakiniku-Q’s!” Choji exclaimed surprising Team 8 and Naruto by his passion.

Ino groaned, “Oh, great! He’s never going to stop now.”

Choji continued extolling the values of meat, “and it helps build up muscles. The honey also is a perfect combination to soften the meat. And I’ve never had this quality honey before. Just where did you find it from and---“

“Choji! Shut up before I make you!” Ino finally snapped and slammed Choji into the table. Team 8’s and Naruto’s eyes bugged out seeing Ino’s sudden strength.

“Is that normal?” Naruto asked, his eyes still wide.

“Unfortunately…” Shikamaru grumbled as he picked at his meat. “This stuff is delicious. Did you make this all by yourself Hinata?”

“K-Kiba and Shino supplied the meat and honey. It was a group effort,” Hinata blushed.

“Wow! You’re amazing Hinata!” Naruto looked at Hinata only to see her blushing even harder and start swaying. “Are you all right, Hinata? You look sick!” He said getting closer to Hinata.

“Y-Yes Naruto-kun. I-I am all right. Please do not worry,” Hinata reassured him while doing her best not to faint.

“Quick! Remember what Kurenai-sensei said she used to do when Asuma-sensei was nearby! Breathe in! 1! 2! Breathe out! 1! 2!” Kiba coached recognizing he signs of Naruto-overload.

At the table in the corner, Asuma smirked at Kurenai. He raised an eyebrow and said, “Really, Kurenai? You had trouble breathing next to me?” He shifted closer to Kurenai and whispered, “Do you still feel that way now? Having any breathing problems?”

“S-Shut up! That was back when I had a crush on you!”

“Oh? And you don’t have that crush anymore?” he drawled.

“Nope and if you come any closer, you won’t have something still attached to you at the end of this meal.”

Asuma pouted. “But Kurenai, if I don’t have all my body parts how can I take you out on a date?”

“Bribery,” she dryly answered as Asuma scooted further away from her gloomily.

“It’s not fair. First, my genin eat me out of my paycheck and then my girlfriend threatens me,” he ducked into the corner with a small storm cloud forming over his head.

“And I’ll make those threats reality if you don’t pay attention. Now, watch! It looks like they stopped eating!”

“Meanie” Asuma pouted.

“Shush!”

The genin finished up their food without noticing the suspicious jounin watching them from the corner. “So, Naruto, does everyone really hate you that much?” Ino finally asked.

“Yeah, but I’m going to become Hokage so they everyone will have to respect me and stop hating me!”

“Who hates you?” Kiba scrunched up his eyebrows confused.

“The villagers,” Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

“Why?” Kiba asked even more confused.

 “Do you know if they might dislike your parents and transferred that hatred towards you?” Shikamaru asked.

“Nah. They blame me, I guess,” Naruto sighed remembering how the villagers still saw him as the demon-brat.

“What’d you do to them? Prank them too much?” Ino wondered.

“Something like that…” Naruto answered halfheartedly trying to avoid everyone’s concerned eyes.

“It did seem a bit too extreme for anyone in Konoha to hate an Uzumaki as they hail from our now destroyed sister village, Uzushio,” Shikamaru added thoughtfully as he pulled out a thick book from his bag. “I brought this for you. I remembered you said you didn’t have anyone to teach you about your clan so I copied down the stuff our clans and the library had about your clan. I thought you might like to-” Shikamaru had to stop talking as he found himself being tackled by the blonde.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Naruto mumbled as he hugged Shikamaru on the floor. _Maybe I can finally find out something about my parents._

Shikamaru huffed but was smiling. “You’re welcome, you troublesome blonde,” he muttered as he ruffled Naruto’s soft hair. “Now get off, you’re squishing me.”

Naruto laughed, “Sorry, sorry,” before getting up, still hugging the book tightly to his chest.

“Also in the book are some beginner and intermediate seals. It was all I could find, but you can probably experiment a little with your shadow clones because even if they blow up, nobody would get hurt. It’s part of your clan’s legacy, so I included all I could find about it. Team 8 also helped us.”

Naruto’s eyes shined a little as he faced the group. “Thank you guys so much! I love it!” he exclaimed as he protectively held the book. “This…This is one of the best gifts I’ve ever received other than Gama-chan!”

“Gama-chan?” Choji questioned.

“Yeah, he was my only friend until the academy,” Naruto rummaged in his pocket and proudly showed Gama-chan off.

“Naruto,” Ino began, “that’s a wallet.” The others sweat-dropped as they saw Naruto pout.

“Well, no one wanted to talk to me so I talked to Gama-chan. Anyways, thank you all so much for this gift. I don’t know how to repay you all!”

“Save it man. You showed us those super awesome jutsu so call it even!” Kiba pumped his fist in the air.

“Yes Naruto, those jutsu could save our lives. It’s more than enough for the book,” Ino answered.

“Indeed Naruto. If you prefer, think of it as an early birthday gift,” Shino added.

“Thanks,” Naruto gulped. He felt warm inside and lighter than usual. Everyone there was smiling at him happily. _Is this what friendship feels like?_ He watched as Ino scooped up the leftovers and packed them into a box with Hinata while Shino’s Kikaichu stole some of Choji’s meat. He smiled as he saw Kiba and Shikamaru throwing a few meat pieces for Akamaru to catch and eat. _I never want this feeling to end. I don’t want to be lonely ever again. This feels as good as Jiji’s love. They see me for who I am._ He smiled bitterly as a thought popped up. _I’ve never felt this way around Sasuke or Sakura-chan. I guess…I don’t actually love her._ He clenched his fists harder around the book. _I’ll just have to try harder. They’re my team and I want to get along with them._ He peeked at the table again and a thought struck him when he saw the picnic basket. _No… Wait- It just might work._ “Hey, guys?” He coughed once to get their attention. When everyone was looking at him, he began again, “Can you help me with something?”

“We’re not going to prank someone, Naruto!” Ino shouted.

“What? No, not that. I stopped that anyways when I became a ninja.” The group was surprised to hear that. “No, I want to…” and he explained his plan. They looked at each other before nodding that they’d help. “Great, thanks! So, I was thinking of doing something like this…”

At the corner table, Asuma and Kurenai were watching their genin with warm eyes. “They’re good kids,” Asuma said with pride in his voice.

“Yeah,” Kurenai agreed leaning into his side. “It was nice of them to do that for Naruto.”

“Mm,” Asuma agreed. Kurenai suddenly sat up straight.

“I think, we should have a… _talk_ with Kakashi about taking his student’s money. Don’t you agree?” Her eyes gleamed as she turned around and stared at Asuma who let out a small whimper.

“Y-Yeah. Let’s go teach him a lesson.”

“And burn his orange books. Reading them in front of his students, what is he thinking? The nerve of that man!” Asuma gulped feeling a surge of pity towards Kakashi. _As long as she never finds mine…Or worse, my father’s!_ Both jounin shunshined out. One eager while the other sweating as he was coerced by his girlfriend.

* * *

  

Midnight: Hatake Compound: Kakashi’s Apartment

A scream echoed throughout the night as orange books burnt to the ground. A woman stood next to the dwindling book stack cackling madly while her minion stood to the side with a hand covering his eyes, unable to watch the horrifying scene any longer. “Do you promise to never take money from your genin’s D-rank and C-rank mission pay?” She threatened with her hair flying around like the snakes on a medusa statue.

“Yes! Yes! I promise! Never Again! Now please stop! My precious!!!” The victim wailed as his daily sustenance went up in haunting orange flames.

“Good, now remember this, I’m always watching,” the she-demon finished before vanishing in a flame. Her crony sighed before casting a helpless glance at the fallen man on the floor and too vanished into thin air.

The spent man looked into the ashes of his books grieving for their deaths. _She didn’t have to burn all of them._ He pouted. Sh _e could’ve just told me to stop._ The look in his eyes sharpened. _Still, I’ll have to look into if what she said about Naruto was true. Hmmm for now I guess I’ll just have to take a few more side missions._ He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching before removing the picture frame from the wall to reveal a hidden button. Pushing the button, he waited as the bed let out a whirring sound and swung upwards. _Phew! Luckily, she didn’t know about the Icha Icha failsafe for ninjas that Jiraiya added!_ He opened the trap door to reveal all the previously-burnt copies of Icha Icha now in pristine condition. He picked up the nearest one and quickly disabled the system and laid across his bed. _Now let’s see which one I picked._ He giggled perversely and cracked the book open only to see:

_Hello!_

_Your failsafe has activated its 50 th time! It’s time to renew them for 500,000 ryo or buy this copy for 20,000 ryo. Please make your decision in the next ten minutes otherwise Icha Icha will self-destruct. _

_Thank you and have a nice day, The Super Pervert Jiraiya! :)_

“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!” a scream echoed throughout Konoha striking fear into certain perverts’ hearts (especially the Third Hokage’s).

Across the village Kurenai smirked as Asuma sweat-dropped. “It was so worth it destroying Kakashi’s books 50 times to destroy their guarantee.” Kurenai smiled eerily remembering the many many times she lit each book on fire. Asuma paled and his eyes widened as his heart sunk. _She knows! She knows about the guarantee! How?!_ As if knowing what Asuma was thinking about, Kurenai raised an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t really think I wouldn’t know, did you sweetheart? Especially considering how both you and your father both read them, did you now, honey?” Asuma felt sweat build on his skin as he frantically shook his head. “Good, because know this. I know everything,” and with that Kurenai cackled harder at the sky while Asuma looked on horrified at what he had got himself into.

 


	4. The Fourth Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for taking the time to read, bookmark, or kudos! As promised here is the second chapter for the week, and the last chapter for a while!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

* * *

 

The Fourth Meeting (Last Meeting Before Wave)

_Just as most of the newest genin generation of Konoha was meeting today, the current generation of clan heads was also meeting today, coincidentally at the same place: The Nara Head House. This house had a special feature that made it the perfect place to meet at. It had hidden cameras surveilling the village and all the other rooms of the house. This was only known to those who held the position of special jounin and above. It was this very day that the clan heads were meeting for an important reason concerning their very precious heiresses and heirs. In fact, this day-_

“Ow! Why’d you do that?” Inoichi Yamanaka groaned as he rubbed the rather large bump on his head Tsume Inuzuka gave him. Tsume grinned ferally at him and pointedly looked at his writing.

“You were rambling in the written record again,” she deadpanned as Shikaku Nara and Choza Akimichi both watched their former genin teammate, amused.

“Now that we have that settled, can we get back to the reason this meeting was called?” Hiashi Hyuuga dryly asked as he gestured to the large mounted screen on the wall.

“Yes, I do believe that would be wise,” Shibi Aburame agreed. “It is quite unfortunate that the Third will have to miss this meeting. I heard that he is… _indisposed_ due to paperwork.” The clan heads shuddered in revulsion, clearly remembering their most fearsome foe: paperwork.

“We are still waiting for the jounin-sensei to arrive,” Shikaku reminded them. The handle to the window opened. “Ah, I believe that is them right now.” The window opened up to show Asuma entering and holding out his hand for Kurenai to follow after him. Surprisingly, a head of gray gravity-defying hair also poked its way in. Shikaku skeptically narrowed his eyes at Kakashi. “It is a surprise to see you here so early, Kakashi. You must really like your team this time around.”

“Maa maa,” Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. “Of course, I came to watch my cute little genin. I wouldn’t miss it for Konoha.” He tried to look convincing.

Kurenai snorted and mumbled, “Yeah, and I threatened to destroy his Icha Icha if he didn’t come.” The clan heads relaxed once more realizing that no, Kakashi was not an imposter, and that he was only on time due to blackmail. Kakashi pouted when he saw no one really believed he would actually ever be on time. _I wouldn’t have been too late this time. Only an hour or two…_ He thought sullenly.

“I see…” Shikaku continued and turned on the screen. “Let the traditional watching of the genin commence!” he declared as everyone watched the screen focus upon their children.

* * *

 

Rendezvous Point #7 in the Village (Nearby the Nara Compound)

“Let’s go!” Naruto excitedly set off into a direction before he was harshly yanked by his cuff. “Arrrghh! Ino!”

Ino ignored him, “Naruto we have to wait for Team 8 to show up before we go!” She released him and he went flying into the tree before face-planting on the ground hard.

“How troublesome…” Shikamaru groaned as he remembered that there was a clan meeting held at his place today. _Eh._ He shrugged. _It’s only a few more people, and no one will be using the kitchen anyways. It should be fine…_ He looked at Naruto who was dazedly talking to a tree he thought was Shino. _Probably…_

Choji munched on some chips, excited for once about what was going to happen later today. _We can make tarts and pancakes and eat strawberries and cherries or wait! I can make ice-cream and…_ With each new thought about food his eyes glazed over more and more as a tiny drool puddle started forming. _Fried barbeque and spicy chicken with some mashed potatoes and mini sandwiches for a picnic. And, of course, drinks like lemonade and sparkling juice._ He snapped out of his daze when he saw Ino smack Naruto again and winced. _Maybe we shouldn’t have anything too sugary…_

Naruto shook off his dizziness and noticed Team 8 walking towards them and yelled out a greeting, “Yo! Guys! You ready?”

“Hey Naruto! Whose house are we going to?” Kiba greeted.

“Mine,” Shikamaru stated. “There might be some of the clan heads there too for a meeting, but we’ll be in the kitchen, so we won’t really see them.”

“Oh yeah, I remember mom saying something about a meeting there. It’s too bad Akamaru couldn’t have come. He would’ve loved to taste the food.”

“Fleas? Ouch,” Ino winced at the thought of black furry creatures climbing up her body.

“Nah, just a daily check-up. Shouldn’t be too bad,” Kiba shrugged.

“We can always pack him some leftovers,” Hinata consoled Kiba while Shino patted his teammate’s shoulders. Naruto couldn’t help but feel a sting in his chest at their easy comradery.

“All right, guys. We should get going soon. My house is that way,” Shikamaru gestured to the forest behind them.

“Yeah, it’s going to rain soon,” Naruto agreed.

“No way! There aren’t any clouds anywhere and it’s bright and sunny!” Ino protested.

Naruto sniffed and replied, “It is too! I can smell it. It’s about 3, no 4 minutes away.”

Shino added, “My Kikaichu also sense a disturbance in the atmosphere. Bad weather is on its way.” He opened his jacket to let his Kikaichu settle, protected inside.

“See? Shino agrees!” Naruto smiled at Shino who nodded back.

“If that’s the case, we better hurry,” Choji interrupted the argument and hauled Ino towards the front. They were quickly followed by Team 8 while Naruto and Shikamaru took the back.

“So, how’s studying your past been going?” Shikamaru asked interested, as they made their way along the trail to his house.

“Going good!” Naruto replied excitedly. “I’ve learned so much about them. You know, normally I don’t like reading much. But when I read this, I feel closer to my family, or at least what would’ve been my family.” Naruto grinned as he felt warmth fill his chest. “It’s too bad that I don’t have the clan’s red hair,” Naruto pouted fingering his blonde locks.

“It’s ok, blonde suits you more. Reminds me of sunshine with your happy and energetic personality,” Shikamaru unconsciously petted Naruto’s hair as he blurted out his thoughts, feeling the need to comfort his friend. “Better than red anyways,” he mumbled a little embarrassed as he didn’t mean to say that.

Naruto didn’t notice and thanked Shikamaru, “Really? Thanks! I thought I might be related to Ino because of the blonde, you know? But no one in her clan has my shade of yellow. Theirs is paler.” Naruto frowned again wondering about his mysterious parents.

“Well, you’ll find out eventually because the Hokage obviously knows. You just need to get strong enough to defeat their enemies,” Shikamaru consoled.

Naruto beamed at Shikamaru, “You always know just what to say Shika!”

Shikamaru cheeks tinted a slight pink as replied, “Yeah, well…”

“Oh look, we’re here! Awesome!” Naruto pointed at the clan compound as they approached the earth walls surrounding it. Shikamaru nodded at the guards and the seven made their way to his house.

“Woah! There’re so many people here! And they’re all your family?” Naruto asked in awe.

“Most are distant relatives while others are under our clan’s protection. Most of my relatives live in the clan head house with us,” Shikamaru explained gesturing to the large house in the center. The group walked towards the house and noticed most of their parents were there for the meeting.

“It must be an important meeting. There are so many people!” Naruto counted at least six people before he was interrupted by Kiba pulling him into the kitchen.

“Nah, it’s just our parents,” Kiba responded while he bounded into the kitchen and dropped into a chair with Naruto near him. Choji began getting out the utensils while Hinata and Ino cleared the table.

“So, what were you thinking of making, Naruto?” Shikamaru asked taking Naruto’s bag of ingredients from him.

“I thought we could make some Umeboshi. I know you usually use dried sea salt plums, but I thought we could substitute it with these tomatoes I had Iruka-sensei pick up. They’re really like plums so I thought it should work,” Naruto explained as he held up a tomato for the rest to see.

“Right, and this wouldn’t have anything to do with how Sasuke’s and Sakura’s favorite foods are tomatoes and Umeboshi?” Shikamaru smirked as he raised an eyebrow at Naruto.

“Well, maybe a little of that too,” Naruto conceded as he blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “If I make something they both like, they’ll have to eat with me!” Naruto exclaimed with a fire in his eyes. He was determined to have lunch with his teammates this weekend.

“Sounds good to me!” Kiba barked out as he licked his lips, imagining tasting all the food they’d make. “I call dibs on being a taster!”

“I also would like to be a taster. I am looking forward to the Umeboshi. They suit the warm weather we have been having,” Shino agreed with Kiba and sat at the table. Shikamaru also joined Kiba and Shino at the table, silently designating himself as a taste tester too.

“So, it’s me, Choji, Ino, and Hinata who’re all cooking? Great! Let’s get started!” Naruto chirped excitedly standing next to Choji.

“Hang on, Naruto,” Choji patiently stopped Naruto and turned to Ino. “Ino, you’re not allowed to use the fire or add any ingredients. You may decorate if the time comes.” Choji sternly instructed Ino, not forgetting the last three times Ino started a fire trying to… _cook_ cereal. Ino just huffed and sat at the table as Choji began mixing flour in with the other ingredients and directing Naruto to help every now and then.

“How have your trainings been going?” Naruto asked them when he had a free moment in between measuring.

“They’ve been boring so far. Asuma-sensei hasn’t taught us anything new and keeps making us go through his tactics trainings for combinations. I think he’s just too lazy to teach us anything else. He really likes playing Shogi with Shika,” Ino answered picking her head up from the table to send a glare at Shikamaru.

“I’ve already told you troublesome woman, that we’re going through team combat simulations. We aren’t just _playing_ ,” Shikamaru emphasized while holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

“Yeah, we’re working on combinations right now, so we didn’t learn any new jutsu yet,” Choji supplemented as he took the tray from Hinata and greased it.

“You guys are lucky, all we’ve been doing is building up our strength. Kurenai-sensei tried teaching us some genjutsu, but none of us really have the affinity. We’re more tracker or taijutsu fighters,” Kiba groaned remembering the genjutsu Kurenai trapped him in. A world with only cats; he shivered at the horrifying thought.

“We also have not learnt any new jutsus,” Shino added.

“Kurenai-sensei taught us more about tracking, though. We can find the trails of people that go through water now and those who can hide their scents,” Hinata defended Kurenai.

“That is true,” Shino conceded. “Our cohesiveness has also increased with our skills being raised.”

“But I wanted to learn some new jutsus!” Kiba whined. “You’d think after learning how to do them without seals, that they’d teach us more. But no, it’s always: You need to have more control, Kiba. You’re not ready for this jutsu yet, Kiba” he complained.

“At least you guys are training together,” Naruto started. “We just do the mission with Kakashi-sensei and then he leaves. Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan don’t even want to stay after that to work on any combos.” Naruto pouted remembering how his teammates had ignored him.

“That’s why you’re making lunch today,” Shikamaru reminded Naruto. “When they join you to eat their favorites, why don’t you bring up training together in the conversation” he suggested.

“I dunno,” Naruto was unconvinced. “I don’t think they’re going to stick around for lunch today.” He looked down, but before anyone could comfort him, he looked up with a burning gaze and declared, “But I won’t give up! Because that’s my ninja way!” The others only smiled at Naruto.

“Yeah, because if you gave up, we’d have to check for an imposter,” Kiba joked. Naruto only grinned at him and then shuddered.

“What’s wrong, Naruto-kun?” Hinata asked, noticing his troubled look.

“It’s nothing,” he answered. “Just felt like we were being watched.”

“You might be sensing the hidden cameras in the room,” Shikamaru wondered. “Maybe our parents are watching us. They are in the security room.” He lazily pointed out.

“Why would they be watching us,” Kiba asked. “Don’t they have anything better to do with their days?”

“It’s some lame tradition,” Ino spoke up, rolling her eyes. “The clans meet up and stalk every genin generation’s fourth meeting.

“How do you know?” Naruto asked.

“Please, “Ino scoffed. “It’s not like they’re secretive about it. My dad keeps winking at me and Shika’s dad practically forced him to invite us over today, saying he wanted to see his new teammates. Like he hasn’t seen us all since our births.” She snorted and waved a dismissive hand. “Shika knew about the cameras since before the academy. It’s not that hard to figure out.”

“Especially because of the red blinking dot that shows that the camera is on,” Shikamaru dryly pointed out.

“That’s creepy,” Naruto shuddered, once again feeling someone watching him. “How many cameras are in this room anyways?”

“Only one in that corner over there,” Shikamaru pointed directly at the camera by the stove.

“He disabled the other ones before coming in here,” Choji put in his own words and Shikamaru looked a little sheepish.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to be too close to the screen,” he defended while crossing his hands.

“That’s weird,” Naruto frowned. “I saw the camera over there, but I feel that someone else is watching us.” He walked towards the table the “tasters” were sitting at.” It’s coming from there,” he pointed at the salt shaker on the table.

“Strange,” Shikamaru muttered looking at the salt shaker as Hinata activated her Byakugan.

“I can see a camera underneath the lid,” Hinata spoke sounding shocked, while Shikamaru unscrewed the lid. By now, even Choji was frowning and walked over to the table after he had placed the Umeboshi in the oven. Shikamaru popped the lid off and sure enough, there was a small red blinking light on the underside of the lid.

“Who put this here?” he mumbled as he inspected the small camera after disabling it.

“There seems to be a symbol on the bottom of the camera,” Shino spoke up. Shikamaru turned over the little device to reveal three solid lines followed by two broken ones.

“I’ve seen that symbol before,” Naruto surprised the others. “It was in that book of seals you gave me!”

“You actually finished that book? There must have been more than a thousand pages in it and you could never finish a book at the academy!” Shikamaru exclaimed incredulously.

“Yeah, well, it was really interesting,” Naruto explained sheepishly before becoming serious again. “There’s a seal that transmits and hides in the symbol which has been known to be used by some disbanded organization Konoha once had, known as Root,” he unconsciously repeated what he read from the book. “But why’s it here?” he wondered looking at Shikamaru who only shrugged.

“I don’t know. I’ll show it to my parents later. Maybe they forgot to disable some of the equipment once Root disbanded?” he tried to think of a logical reason.

“Yeah maybe,” Naruto agreed but looked unconvinced like the rest of the table.

“So, anyways, how far have you gotten with your seal training, Naruto?” Shikamaru tried changing the subject.

Naruto beamed at him as he answered, “Not too far. I’ve only reached 7-1 of the intermediate section.”

“How many chapter are there?” Ino asked trying to understand if this was a good amount or not.

“There were ten chapters for the beginner section and there are another ten for the intermediated section. I’m going to have to ask Kakashi-sensei or Jiji if they have a copy of the next section soon.”

“Wow, that’s far!” Choji whistled.

“Yeah, but when you have shadow clones practice for you, it makes everything easier,” Naruto explained dismissively.

“So, what’ve you learned so far?” Kiba asked.

“Right now, I’m learning how to identify seals on humans. Want me to check you guys out?” Naruto asked giddily.

“Sure,” Shikamaru answered bemused.

“Okay!” Naruto excitedly clapped his hands together and looked at the genin. “Who wants to go first?”

“Ooooh! Do me! Me first!” Kiba excitedly jumped around before Ino hit him with a fist.

“Haven’t you ever heard of ladies first, dog breath?” She sneered at Kiba and stood in front of Naruto.

“Okay, fine but I get to go next,” Kiba pouted and sat down waiting for his turn. Naruto nodded and held his hands in front of Ino concentrating hard.

“You have a…tracking seal on you? I think it was put on you when you were a baby by your parents. It’s starting to fade away now and is almost gone,” he said while pointing at a small dot that looked like a mole on Ino’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I remember my mom telling me about this. She said that’s how she found me whenever I wandered when I was a baby,” Ino smiled at the memory.

“My turn!” Kiba bellowed and pushed Ino out of the way. Naruto sweat-dropped before scanning Kiba too.

“You have a small seal by yours ears that, I think, makes sounds smaller?” Naruto asked.

“Oh yeah! I forgot about that. It helps me hear. My mom put it there because I complained about Sakura and In- I mean Sakura’s, no one else’s, only Sakura’s loud screeches,” Kiba backpedaled as he saw the murderous glint in Ino’s eyes.

“Have you ever tried releasing it?” Shino asked, interested in his teammate’s senses.

“Sometimes,” Kiba shrugged. “When there aren’t any loud peop- I mean noises, not people,” Kiba quickly corrected his mistake averting his eyes from Ino.

“Cool!” Naruto chirped and scanned Shino. “Woah, Shino! Your clothes are amazing!” he looked at Shino in awe. “You’ve got like six seals on them instead of you. The waterproof, fireproof, and scent-proof ones are awesome! Did they stitch the other three storage seals into your clothes?” He drooled imagining all the alterations he could add to his own jumpsuit.

Shino looked pleased as he answered, “Yes, they were stitched into my clothes. My clan has similar seals stitched into their outfits to provide a safe habitat for our Kikaichu to travel in.”

“That’s so cool! I’m going to add protection and storage seals to my pockets too. Think of all the ramen I can carry on me…” Naruto trailed of as he imagined the possibilities. The rest of the genin, except Choji who was also drooling at the amount of food he could carry with him, sweat-dropped.

“Can I have those seals too?” Choji pleaded with sparkling eyes. Naruto quickly scanned Choji and noticed there were no seals on him.

“Sure! Your clothes don’t have any seals so I can just add them to your pockets!” he said excitedly. “I just have to learn how to stitch seals first. It shouldn’t take too long, I’ll have some shadow clones work on it!” He made a ram seal and contacted his training clones and commanded a few of them to work on learning how to stitch seals. “When I have it down, I’ll add some to your clothes!” he posed with his thumbs up at Choji who returned the pose. The rest of the genin just shook their heads at their antics. Naruto turned around and saw that Shikamaru was closer to him than Hinata. He held up his hands to scan Shikamaru. “You have a communication seal on your earrings. I think they connect to earrings someone closely related to you has, but not your parents… Do you know who it is?” Shikamaru looked startled as he fingered the tips of his ears.

“No, there shouldn’t be anyone like that.” He frowned and brought his hands together into his usual thinking position. “My parents don’t have any siblings and my grandparents are dead, so it can’t be them.”

“It doesn’t have to be a close relative. It can be someone who has some of your blood too,” Naruto clarified.

“I have never given anyone my blood before,” Shikamaru frowned harder and decided to ask his parents about it later today.

“Maybe someone stole it from the hospital,” Kiba pointed out.

“But the hospital’s records are guarded by really strong shinobi,” Ino shot down the idea. “There’s no way someone stole Shika’s blood without anyone knowing!”

“Not really,” Naruto spoke up. “I found a tunnel underground that goes there.” He noticed everyone staring at him and tried to defend his actions, “I only used it once for a prank. I just wanted to check if they were allergic to peanuts before I covered their whole apartment in peanut butter.” He grinned remembering how bewildered those villagers were.”

“That was you? Why would you even feel the need to do that?” Ino yelled.

Naruto pouted and crossed his hands, “They so deserved it. They tried to steal the money I got from Jiji! So, I followed them around for three days and found out their habits and where they lived. Then I slowly started covering everything they owned in peanut butter. First it was little things like their keys or clothes or paperwork. Then I started escalating until I finally covered their whole apartment and workplace in peanut butter!” He cackled maniacally. “The hardest part was hiding the peanut butter whenever they told anyone about it,” he reminisced on his so-called prank. The other genin just stared at Naruto like he was crazy. “They stole 1,000,000 ryo from me. It was justified!” The group could only sweat-drop at Naruto’s prank.

“Did you always pull these types of pranks on people when you were missing from the academy,” Kiba had to ask.

Naruto shook his head, “Nope, just those who deserved it.” He walked closer to Hinata and changed the subject, “Okay, let me scan you for any seals. You’re the last one.” He put his hands up in front of Hinata and concentrated hard. “You have a seal on you, well not on you but connected to you. It feels horrible! It’s slowly sucking up your chakra and connecting you to other seals. I think it used to be connected to someone else but then was transferred to you.” He frowned as he stepped closer to Hinata.

“I-I think t-that you’re sensing the Hyuuga branch members’ seal. I-It’s supposed to allow members of the main household seal branch member’s eyes, d-destroy them, and control their actions by destroying their brain cells,” Hinata blurted out. The rest of the genin except Naruto looked horrified to hear about the seal. Hinata looked down, not knowing why she told everyone about her clan’s secret seal.

“Yeah, I read about the Caged Bird Seal in the book, but the connection you have is different than it. Whoever did this to you knows nothing about seals. The original seal was gifted to the Hyuuga household by their distant Uzumaki relatives to help them keep their secrets even after death. It was just supposed to help instill feelings of protection and loyalty to the clan to never give up its secrets,” he explained remembering what the history book of his clan said. “A similar seal was given to the Uchiha clan for their Sharingan. However, the caged bird seal was only a prototype. Neither clan wanted the new and improved seal design. Someone from your clan must have tweaked the original seal and turned it into this.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Hinata asked anxiously.

“They changed it to control the others which forced it to become parasitic. It’s bad for everyone now. It slowly warps the minds of those who use it, and even if you don’t use, it still leeches on your chakra and affects your mind,” he explained looking worriedly at Hinata. “It latches on to your beliefs and slowly destroys them. For example, I believe in never giving up, so if I had the seal and never used it, it would constantly tell me to give up and to never fight back because I might hurt someone or something like that.”

Hinata was dumbfounded. She never fought with her younger sister because she didn’t want her to get hurt or sealed. But now it seemed like the seal was influencing her thoughts all along! _Could this be that small voice in my head telling me to always give up?_

“…And later I can make you the new and improved seal. I’m not that advanced yet. So, do you want me to do it?” Naruto asked Hinata expectantly.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Hinata was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t hear the beginning of what Naruto said.

“I asked, if you wanted me to sever your connection to the seal?” Naruto repeated.

“YES!” Hinata nearly shouted. She had always hated the seal and its power to affect others. She didn’t want it tainting her thoughts any longer.

“Okay, but this might hurt a bit,” Naruto said before closing his eyes and concentrating harder. Hinata nodded silently and prepared for some pain. Sweat began to form on Naruto’s brow as he made a few hand signs. Suddenly, a piercing pain ripped its way through Hinata’s forehead. She clenched her fists and bit her lip hard enough to bleed before the pain stopped and she relaxed. _Woah, it feels like a heavy burden I never knew was there has finally been removed._ She looked at Naruto through the tears in her eyes.

“Thank you!” she hugged him and tried to convey all her feelings in those two words.

“No problem!” Naruto chirped back and patted her back gently, returning the hug after he got over the shock of someone hugging him. “You’re my friend! Of course, I’d help you. How do you feel now?”

“Like a heavy weight has been removed,” she let go and smiled bashfully at Naruto.

“The Umeboshi is done!” Choji announced from behind the counter. The genin crowded Choji, each waiting for a chance to taste what they had made.

“Mmmmmhmmmm! It’s sooooooo good!” Naruto moaned. “Almost as good as Ramen!” The genin nodded their heads in agreement. The Umeboshi they had made _was_ really good! “I can’t wait to try to eat them together with my team!” Naruto beamed imagining finally getting along with his teammates.

“Here, let’s pack this up and then we can hide while you try to eat it with your team,” Ino suggested and scooped up the Umeboshi into a few containers and placed them into a bag.

“Sounds good!” Naruto chittered as he bounded along, helping Ino with the packing.

* * *

 

The Fourth Meeting: A Parent’s Perspective

“What are they talking about?” Tsume squinted up at the screen trying to make out what the genin were saying.

Shikaku rubbed his chin, “It appears they are talking about the weather. Naruto and Shino predict it will rain, while Ino doesn’t agree.”

“It’s sunny outside; there’s no way it’s going to rain!” Inoichi defended his daughter while gesturing at the sunny skies.

“On the contrary, it actually is going to rain. Young Naruto and my Shino are correct. It is marvelous to see how developed their senses are at this age.” Shibi inputted, feeling proud of his son.

Inoichi was about to respond, but Tsume interrupted him, “Who cares if it’s going to rain? Quick, switch the camera to the indoors one. They already reached the checkpoint.” Shikaku switched the screen to show the indoors.

“That’s strange,” he frowned. “Only one camera appears to be working.”

“Shikamaru probably disabled the other ones,” Asuma smirked at the others’ disbelieving faces. “He does have an IQ of over 200. He probably didn’t want to be watched, but knew he had to leave one active just in case.” He looked at the screen to watch the other genin file in. Shikaku turned up the volume on the camera and they heard the genin talking about, of all things, making Umeboshi with tomatoes?

“I’m surprised. Choji’s using an ancient clan cooking technique to help make the Umeboshi in the oven instead of waiting for it to dry out. He must really trust the other genin there,” Choza thoughtfully remarked, watching his son flit around the kitchen. “Why are they making Umeboshi anyways?” he wondered aloud as Shikamaru spoke up.

The clan heads saw him smirk and say, “Right, and this wouldn’t have anything to do with how Sasuke’s and Sakura’s favorite foods are tomatoes and Umeboshi?” Asuma let out a low whistle.

“Wow, Kakashi, your team must really get along well if Naruto, the dead-last of all people, is trying to surprise his teammates with their favorite foods! I’m surprised, I didn’t think you had it in you to get a team working together,” Asuma said.

“Hmmm, did you say something?” Kakashi nonchalantly asked Asuma who sweat-dropped at the usual Gai response. _So, Naruto wants to get along with Sasuke and Sakura badly enough that he found out their favorite foods to bribe them?_ Kakashi speculated. He knew his genin team didn’t really get along well, but he had thought they at least been doing some exercises together without him. Was it really to the extent Naruto described, or was he merely exaggerating. _I think I’ll follow them and see how this picnic goes._ Kakashi made up his mind as a shriek startled him out of his thoughts.

“Kiba! Next time you complain about training, I’m going to trap you in an even scarier genjutsu!” Kurenai vowed, a tick mark throbbing on her forehead. “This time you’ll be a male cat stuck in a world of only female cats all in heat.” Tsume involuntarily let out a small whimper at the thought of that nightmare becoming reality. Hiashi just watched Kurenai from the corner of the room and wondered if it was really okay for Hinata to have her as a teacher. _Well, at least she’ll toughen up a bit._ He saw Kurenai cackling and sweat-dropped. _Hopefully not to the point of Anko…_ He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard the genin remark that they had already known about the clan heads watching them.

Shikaku glared at Inoichi and threateningly asked, “Inoichi, why does your daughter know about the meeting?”

Inoichi panicked and tried to defend himself, “Hey! She’s not the only one who knows! Your Shika knew about the cameras too. And it’s not my fault that Ino was too cute when she asked about the meeting. How was I supposed to not answer her?” He pouted remembering how his daughter had coerced him into telling her about the secret meeting.

“Actually, it seems you are the one at fault here, Shikaku,” Hiashi dryly pointed out and Shikaku blushed at being seen through by a group of genin.

“It seems I was mistaken. How troublesome,” he admitted as Inoichi grinned at him smugly, his momentary panic forgotten. Shikaku sighed and glanced at the screen once more. He noticed with mounting alarm that the children had found another hidden camera, one that he did not own nor install. The other clan heads all looked at him, each wondering whose camera it was. Privately, he had a sneaking suspicion that the camera belonged to a certain councilman’s supposedly disbanded organization.

Kakashi also looked at the screen shocked, though his reason was different from the others who were still focusing on the mysterious hidden camera. _Since when has Naruto been learning about seals? And he’s already that advanced!_ He exhaled sharply as he heard how far along Naruto was. _There are 100 chapters for each section, not 10! How fast did he finish them at to already be on chapter 71 of the intermediate section? And to only have been studying for a week even with shadow clones, he’s a genius! It must be in his blood._ He thought as he recalled Minato’s near instinctual use of seals on a level that only Kushina understood. He narrowed his eyes at the screen which was now focusing on the symbol. His thoughts echoed those of the clan heads around him: _Danzo. It looks like Root hasn’t really been disbanded._

Shikaku had similar thoughts running through his head. How could he miss one of Danzo’s seals on his own clan grounds? To not even notice that Danzo was spying on him, this was mortifying. He scrunched his eyebrows together and wondered. _Does Hiruzen know that Danzo’s Root still exists? What a drag!_ Luckily Shikamaru disabled the camera before Naruto revealed who the symbol belonged to. Those earrings were also suspicious... Still, it was shocking to see that the ‘dead-last’ of the academy was the one who figured all this out. He had to admit that Naruto was one of the most surprising shinobi in Konoha. He marveled at the young blonde’s proficiency in seals. He had his doubts before about the Jinchuuriki’s parentage, but if this wasn’t proof, he didn’t know what was. _Fool Hiruzen, trying to hide who Naruto is. With that hair and those eyes, not to mention his grasp of seals, there’s no doubt that he is those two’s child._ At this revelation, he grew sorrowful at the harsh treatment from the village the youngster had to face. _Poor child, he must have been sabotaged at the academy to only show his potential now._ He sighed and watched Naruto scan Hinata.

Hiashi had many thoughts running through his head after the Root seal had been revealed. His first of many was disbelief. He couldn’t believe that the child who had failed the academy exam, of all things, three times was the same one who was scanning the genin for seals. The fact that the young Jinchuuriki was learning seals was alarming, but he calmed himself with the fact that seals were part of the Uzumaki clan heritage and therefore understandable for him to learn. _But still, is he even qualified to scan for seals?_ If he remembered correctly, scanning seals was near the end of the intermediate section. Was it even possible for the blond to sit still long enough to read through the first hundred chapters of the beginning section, not to even mention those of the intermediate section? By the time Naruto had finished scanning the other genin and had come to Hinata, Hiashi had to admit his defeat. Naruto knew what he was doing and was most likely a seal prodigy. He fretted as Naruto’s expression darkened when he scanned Hinata. _He most likely found out about the Caged Bird Seal._

He paled at Naruto’s next words, “It latches on to your beliefs and slowly destroys them. For example, I believe in never giving up, so if I had the seal and never used it, it would constantly tell me to give up and to never fight back because I might hurt someone or something like that.”

He couldn’t believe it. _All along the seal was to blame for Hinata’s attitude and the elders’ behaviors! No that can’t be, the seal was passed down in our clan for decades. There’s no way it could have been corrupting us._ His frown deepened as the other clan heads looked at him in concern. _But it does make sense._ He faltered. _The Hyuuga Clan’s main and branch family wasn’t separated until after a Hyuuga seal master…altered the seal._

“Damn it!” he cursed, shocking the others in attendance. _He’s right. The seal is twisted. I’ll have to talk to him about that new seal and maybe get Jiraiya’s help inspecting the old seal._ So, lost in his thoughts, he almost missed when Hinata agreed to getting her seal removed. _WAIT! Can he even do it safely?_ He wanted to storm down there and stop it, but it was too late. He gasped as he felt a heavy malevolent force settle upon him. _Is this how Hinata always felt? No wonder she always refused to use the seal._ He could only hope that the damage the seal had done could be reversed. He no longer held any reservations. He was determined to remove all traces of the seals no matter what the elders said. He was clan head not them, and they would respect his decisions even if it meant dissolving the branch house system and years of tradition. _This is for the best. I never liked that seal anyways._ His expression lightened as a certain possibility hit him. _And perhaps I can tell Neji the truth of that day._ He almost smiled at the thought of reconnecting with his estranged nephew.

Tsume and Shibi both scrutinized Hiashi with concern. If what Naruto said was true, Hiashi must be feeling terrible. They both knew that though Hiashi might not look it, he cared deeply for his family. They never could forget how he had broken down the day his brother had died in his place. Or how he had waited two months to go to Shibi’s house to mourn his wife after her funeral. They both remembered the time he had confessed how horrible he felt whenever he was forced to activate the curse seal, especially when he had to activate his brother’s seal to protect Hinata. Just the fact he was showing so much emotion on his face alerted them to his inner turmoil. Tsume gently rubbed Hiashi’s shoulders while Shibi attempted to make him feel better.

“Don’t worry. Why? Because you can have the authority to remove the seal and replace it. Even the elders won’t go against you. Why? Because you have proof that the new and improved version won’t warp their minds. And that the old version is obsolete according to a seal master. How? Because young Naruto declared so and he got all his information from the book that the children compiled which took each clan’s accounts about the Uzumaki clan from our libraries and therefore cannot be wrong,” Shibi quickly calculated. Tsume realized Shibi had slipped into his verbal tic and recognized he was agitated too on his friend’s behalf.

“See that, there’s no way they can refuse to change the seal now. And if they do, we can always pressure them by bringing in the Third and having Seal Master Jiraiya analyze the seal and declare it corrupt,” Tsume reassured Hiashi who just nodded at his old teammates, glad that this could be fixed even if it took some time. No one else would ever have to suffer under the seal by the time he was through with them. The others’ attentions returned to the screen once they saw Hiashi regain his stoic, determined appearance and no longer seem bothered by the news.

“Looks like they’re finishing up their meeting,” Asuma stated as he noticed the genin packing up. “Should we finish up to? I’m sure all of us has some business to take care of with these new revelations…” Hiashi and Shikaku nodded thinking about the Caged Bird Seal and the seals on Shikamaru’s earrings respectively. Shibi also agreed and told the rest that he’d inform the Third about Danzo and their suspicions. Inoichi and Choza decided to join him as they also had doubts about Root not being fully disbanded.

 “See you guys later!” Tsume shouted over her shoulder and then jumped out the window.

Shikaku groaned and muttered about being glad he had installed a handle for ninjas entering through the windows while Asuma chuckled, reminded of his father’s grumbles about window-breaking-and-entering-shinobi. Speaking of his father, he remembered that he had to give Kakashi a note from the Hokage. He turned towards where Kakashi had been only to find that side of the room empty. _Why did he leave so fast anyways? It’s not like he was planning on being early to anything…_

* * *

While Asuma was wondering where Kakashi had gone, Kakashi had already made it to the other side of the training fields. He was waiting for Naruto to show up so he could spy on his most energetic genin’s picnic. He heard a rustling noise and saw Naruto coming up the path with a basket in his hands. _The others must be hiding in those bushes to watch._

Naruto walked under the tree Kakashi was hiding in and sat at its base waiting for his teammates to arrive. _I wonder if they’ll actually show up._ He wondered. _They should be here in about five minutes._

“Naruto nii-chan!” A blue blur shouted before tackling Naruto to the ground, narrowly missing the picnic basket.

“Ack, Konohamaru? What’re you doing here?” Naruto asked in shock.

“Boss! You gotta help me, Kore!” Konohamaru pleaded.

“What’s wrong?” Naruto asked worriedly when he noticed Konohamaru was serious.

“I was practicing how to Henge like you showed me but then there was this big guy who started talking to me weirdly so I dropped my Henge but then he got mad so he’s chasing me now. He’s right behind me!” the words tumbled out. Konohamaru took in a deep breath and then started panicking again.

“Calm down,”” Naruto consoled. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. I’ll protect you no matter what!” He promised to protect Konohamaru. In the distance, a tall buff man wearing a jounin vest sprinted towards them.

“Oya, you thought you could trick me? You brat! I’m going to make you pay!” he announced and stomped in front of Naruto who hid Konohamaru behind him. With each step the man took, the ground rumbled and shook. The behemoth stood in front of Naruto and flexed his bulging muscles threateningly. He loomed over Naruto and crossed his meaty arms. His bald head glinted in the sunlight and his red face stood out against the greens of the training grounds. Luckily, he was only wearing his jounin vest and wasn’t carrying any other extra weapons other than a few kunai and shuriken.

Naruto gulped and bravely shouted, “Hey! What’s your problem? Konohamaru was just practicing his Henge for the academy. Why’re you chasing him? Are you a stalker?” Kakashi watched the situation closely, getting ready to interfere if it got out of hand.

The man stepped closer and said, “You are…” He rubbed his bald head in thought before exclaiming, “I know you! You’re the demon-brat!” Naruto flinched a little at hearing that name but straightened up and glared at the man. The jounin smirked and menacingly said, “Move out of the way unless you want me to teach you a lesson!”

“No way!” Naruto yelled. By then, the other genin had noticed something was wrong and were watching closely.

“Oh? Then I want some compensation. Why don’t you Henge into that form again and let me touch you a bit. I’m sure no one would mind,” he leered as he remembered Konohamaru’s Henged form. Kakashi growled and released some Killer Intent at the other jounin. _How dare he attempt to touch my cute little genin!_ He thought furiously, preparing to step in and kill… _teach_ the other jounin a lesson. The genin in the bushes were also prepared to attack at a moment’s notice. No way were they allowing this creep come near Naruto! What Naruto did next shocked both Kakashi and the genin. Naruto turned around and grinned at Konohamaru.

“Say, Konohamaru, you ready for your next ninja lesson? I’m going to teach you what to do when guys like this come near you.” He smirked at the jounin in front of him.

“What are you going to do, brat?” the jounin snarled at Naruto.

He answered with a foxy grin, “What you wanted, of course.” Before anyone could stop him, he made the Ram seal and transformed into a taller sexy blonde with pigtails and smoke covering her busty front. The girl stepped closer to the jounin and laid her hand on his vest and whispered, “What do you want me to do Ma-s-ter~?” Kiba, Choji, Shino, and Shikamaru all fell over, blood gushing from their noses. Hinata actually fainted seeing Naruto’s almost naked form, even if he was a girl. Ino, on the other hand, blushed bright red and was stuck in daze, unable to move. Even Kakashi-sensei felt a trickle trail down his mask. The jounin instantly started bleeding from his nose and fainted on top of Naruto who then screamed, “PERVERT! HELP, THERE’S A PERVERTED PEDOPHILE!” He then quickly transformed into a smaller version of the blond pigtailed girl, this time with ripped clothing instead of a smoky covering. The genin, who had finally recovered, could only stare wide-eyed at what happened next. Instantaneously, a mob of kunoichi materialized and looked at the scene before them: a little girl crying with ripped clothing and a man bleeding from the nose on top of the girl. All of them flamed up murderously in unison and began beating up the jounin.

“No wait- It’s not what it looks like!” the jounin who recently regained conscious tried to explain himself in vain.

“Oh, so you’re not a child-molesting pedophile after little girls?” one of the women spitefully asked as she cuddled Naruto.

“Yeah!” He nodded his head agreeing with those words. “Tell them what really happened kid!” he yelled while glaring at Konohamaru.

Konohamaru noticed his Boss winking at him and looked to the other female ninja. “He said that he wanted to touch us for compensation.” The man paled as the woman’s hairs started to fly in rage.

“Stay over here, sweetie,” the woman brought Konohamaru and Naruto to the side of the tree and returned to the man. “Com-pen-sa-tion, huh? I’ll show you some compensation,” she glared at the man and used chakra to pound him into a tree where the other women were waiting.

Naruto whispered to Konohamaru who was ogling the beat down in awe, “That’s another ninja lesson. When you can’t do something by yourself, always get help.”

“Woah Boss! You’re so cool!” Konohamaru admired with stars in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed. “For some reason, the women in Konoha are always ready to half-kill any perverts around. They’ve helped me out of a lot of trouble in the past. Always remember about them. If you’re not careful, that might be you one day,” he said sternly to Konohamaru who nodded quickly. The other genin just gawked at what they’d witnessed. Women were really scary when they were angry. Shikamaru despaired. _This just reinforces the fact that women are troublesome!_ Kakashi just shivered as he remembered what the bathhouse women did to the last pervert who peeped on them in the hot springs.

Once the jounin was covered in bruises and barely conscious, the women stopped thrashing him and kneeled down to Naruto and Konohamaru and said, “If this man ever bothers you again just scream, and we’ll come. Okay?”

“Okay!” Naruto agreed easily and waved good-bye to the women who were leaving. “Thanks for all the help!”

“No problem,” they replied in synch, saluted, and vanished. The other genin rubbed their eyes wondering if they were in a genjutsu. Kiba pinched himself. _Ouch! Definitely not a genjutsu!_

The jounin shakily stood up. “Y-Y-You got-t me t-this ti-time, brat! But I-I’ll g-get my revenge i-if it’s t-the last thing I do!” he vowed.

“Ha! What can you do?” Naruto taunted the man as he slowly walked away. “Try anything and I’ll scream PERVERT again.” The man just snarled and noticed the picnic basket. He smirked and sneakily shot a fireball at the picnic basket.

“Oops,” he smugly said before disappearing into leaves. Naruto growled and was about to chase down the man when he noticed Sasuke and Sakura coming towards them.

“Boss, who are they?” Konohamaru tugged on Naruto’s jumpsuit and pointed.

“They’re my teammates. I made this for them in the morning so we could have a picnic. I hope the food isn’t destroyed,” he whispered to Konohamaru and quickly put out the fire with the water-making jutsu from the campfire three.

“Dobe! Why did you call me here?” Sasuke asked and crossed his hands impatiently.

“Yeah, why are you wasting Sasuke’s time, Naruto-baka!” Sakura yelled. The genin in the bushes couldn’t believe that this was how Naruto’s teammates treated him.

“H-Hey guys,” Naruto stuttered a bit before regaining his happy-go-lucky tone. “I thought we could have lunch together. I made some Umeboshi and-”

He was cut off by Sakura before he could even finish, “Yeah, right! As if you could cook anything other than Ramen!” Shikamaru and Choji had to hold Ino back from pouncing on Sakura.

“Hnn,” Sasuke grunted in agreement. Team 8 frowned deeply at how Team 7’s members were treating Naruto.

“I had some help,” Naruto started defensively before relenting. “So, anyways, want to eat with me?” he asked expectantly and held out the basket. Sakura snatched the basket from Naruto and opened it. “And after eating, maybe we could train together, like a team?” Naruto asked daring to hope that his teammates would finally agree.

He held his breath along with the rest of the genin as Sakura opened her mouth and said, “Naruto, is this a joke?” She glared at Naruto and made a fist about to punch him.

“Hey, don’t hit Boss, you ugly lady!” Konohamaru shouted and broke the trance Naruto was in.

“What do you mean a joke?” Naruto asked confused and a little hurt. He’d thought his own teammates would at least notice that he hadn’t pulled any pranks since after the bell test. Sakura took out the once carefully wrapped Umeboshi that now was a soggy burnt mess.

“Do you expect us to eat this?” she asked in distaste and let the food drop to the ground. “I bet you’re trying to get Sasuke sick so you can beat him tomorrow when we train with Kakashi-sensei!” she accused and glared daggers at Naruto.

Kakashi felt ashamed of how Sakura was treating Naruto. _He made your favorite foods and you throw it back in his face!_ The other genin were outraged. Shikamaru even had to use his shadows to restrain Ino, Kiba, and surprisingly Choji from revealing themselves. Though he too wanted to go out there and yell at Naruto’s teammates, he knew this wasn’t the time. Even the nicest amongst them, Hinata was glaring at Sakura.

“Well, you can forget your plan,” she scoffed. Sasuke sneered at Naruto as he walked away, inwardly cursing him for wasting his time for training. Sakura glowered once more at Naruto before running after Sasuke. Naruto watched his teammates walk away a little bummed out. Sure, he didn’t expect them to eat with him right away but this really? Stepping on the food he worked hard to make with his friends and accusing him of trying to give them food poisoning to in a training match? He sighed and slowly shoveled the remaining edible food into the basket with Konohamaru silently staring at him.

“Boss… I don’t like your teammates,” Konohamaru said after a while.

Naruto laughed wistfully and said, “Yeah they might not seem like it now, but they really are good people. Sakura-chan might seem like she’s just super overprotective of Sasuke, but she’s actually really smart and strong and though Sasuke is also smart and good at using techniques, he’s also super lonely.”

Konohamaru scrunched up his nose at this and said, “I think you’re just too nice, Boss.” Naruto only chuckled at this, while Kakashi watched this interaction with a warm smile. _Naruto, you’ve grown up well, you’re parents would be proud of you._

It was at this point in time that Shikamaru could no longer use his shadows to restrain the other genin, who then burst into the clearing and toppled over onto Naruto. “Oof!” Naruto groaned as he felt everyone’s weight piled on top of him. “Get off of me!” he gasped and pushed Choji off him.

“Sorry about that,” Shikamaru said sheepishly as he came into the clearing.

“So, you guys saw it all, huh?” Naruto began and the other genin nodded hesitantly. Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he apologized, “Sorry, you guys helped me and I wasn’t able to have the picnic with them after all. Even the food was ruined.” The others couldn’t believe Naruto was blaming himself for the plan failing.

“T-That wasn’t y-your fault!” Hinata stammered. “I-It was that man’s fault!” she insisted.

“Yeah, you saved Konohamaru!” Kiba agreed and patted Naruto on the back.

“Indeed. You cannot blame yourself for neither the food’s destruction nor the failed plan,” Shino added, his Kikaichu buzzing in agreement.

“If anything, it was Forehead’s fault!” Ino insisted.

“Yeah! Who throws perfectly good food on the ground anyways!” Choji angrily said and spread the remaining food from the basket onto a napkin. Shikamaru took one of the soggy burnt Umeboshi and ate it.

“Tastes good to me!” he said. “Sakura and Sasuke don’t know what they’re missing out on.” The other genin followed Shikamaru’s lead and each ate one of them. Even Konohamaru took one and ate it.

“You guys…” Naruto choked out, feeling stuffy all of a sudden.

“Not bad, Boss!” he cheerfully said, eating one of the Umeboshi, before grinning playfully and whispering to Naruto, “I like these friends of yours way better than your teammates!”

“Yeah, me too!” Naruto whispered and took one of the Umeboshi for himself and ate it. Kakashi watched this from the tree and felt something warm stirring inside him. _Not bad at all._ He thought as he munched on a familiar burnt soggy Umeboshi treat. And if later that night a certain jounin was checked into the Konoha psych ward muttering about a one-red-eyed masked demon, then that’s just a coincidence. After all, it’s not like Kakashi went after the man just because he dared to threaten one of his little genin.


	5. The Fifth Meeting (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been a while! But I made a monster chapter to make up for it! It was like 50 pages in word, so enjoy!~  
> Thanks for the bookmarks and kudos!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

 

* * *

  

The Fifth Meeting (After Wave but before the Chunin Exams)

“You think he’ll be here today?” Kiba asked as he pushed around the food on his plate. Akamaru whined in sympathy. Although he was a dog and couldn’t really tell humans apart by their looks, he knew his partner was talking about the male yellow one. He too missed the one that always smelled a little too much like a fox mixed with sunshine happiness with a twang of something spicy and bitter. He didn’t really know how a boy could smell like a feeling, but Akamaru figured that he had just felt the boy’s presence, not scent.

“Maybe… I didn’t see him around the village and when I asked Iruka-sensei they said he was still on a mission,” Shikamaru replied in between munching his breadsticks.

“What type of mission takes that long, anyways?” Ino asked annoyed before worrying her lip again. “I hope they’re all alright… All of them, even forehead.” She whispered the last part and then blew a few bubbles in her milkshake.

“They’ll be alright,” Hinata said confidently. Without the seal restricting her thoughts anymore, she wasn’t as shy anymore and could talk without always stuttering. “Naruto never gives up!” she insisted as if Naruto only needed his guts to conquer any problem in front of him.

“Troublesome, that’s what I’m worried about…” Shikamaru muttered under his breath. He could just see Naruto refusing to give up in a hopeless situation to save someone and then getting hurt.

Choji pointed to the entrance and asked, “Wait, isn’t that him there?” The other genin snapped towards the entrance and saw Naruto walking towards them.

“Yo!” Naruto waved.

“Naruto, you have returned,” Shino was the first one to greet Naruto.

“You’re back!” Ino exclaimed. “Where were you all those weeks?” she asked stabbing a chopstick at him in a tell-me-all-about-it gesture.

“Funny story, actually. I was on a mission,” Naruto said taking a seat next to Kiba and stealing some of his food.

“Well? Aren’t you going to explain about it?” Kiba asked while scooting over to give Naruto some room to sit down. He was too relieved at having Naruto back to complain about him taking his food. Akamaru yipped happily as Naruto petted him while he ate.

“We finally got tired of catching Tora,” Naruto began and the other genin winced at the reminder of the devil cat. “So, I asked Jiji for a better mission and he gave us a C-rank to Wave!”

“Wait, wasn’t that the place that was just recently under Gato’s rule?” Shikamaru asked. “I heard someone went on a mission down there to free the place.”

“Yeah! That was us!” Naruto chirped as Ayame set down the bowl of ramen Naruto ordered.

“But that was like an A-rank mission!” Kiba protested. “There’s no way you could’ve gotten it.”

“We didn’t know it was A-ranked back then. We thought it was a normal C-rank to protect a bridge builder from bandits. We didn’t find out until later when two ninjas came out of a puddle and fake-killed Kakashi-sensei! I thought he died and froze up when they attacked, but he pulled off a Kawarimi. Then they attacked and he stopped them after Sasuke fought off one of them. When we interrogated them, we found out that Gato was after Tazuna because he was building a bridge to connect Wave to the mainland. So, we decided to go on.”

“What! Why would you guys go on? Shouldn’t you have come back?” Ino asked.

“We almost came back because of the poison on the claws,” Naruto admitted, “But I have super-fast healing so I just stabbed my hand to let the poison out.”

“I think Ino meant to ask why your jounin-sensei didn’t stop the mission? Why did he continue on?” Shino added.

“We had to help them! Otherwise Tazuna and his family would die, we couldn’t just leave him there. Also, Kakashi-sensei thought it was only a B-rank at most, until we got attacked by Zabuza.”

“Why does that name sound familiar?” Shikamaru wondered not noticing he was rubbing sauce on his chin in his worry.

“Kakashi-sensei said he was part of the Seven Misty-eyed Strongmen or something? Naruto shrugged and finished up his third bowl of ramen. “He was famous for killing all his classmates and stuff. And he had this wicked cool sword!”

“You went up against one of the Seven Swordsmen of Mist!” Ino’s jaw dropped open and looked at Naruto with wide-eyes.

“No, Kakashi-sensei fought against him. I felt something off in the forest and threw a kunai at a white rabbit which he substituted with. Then Zabuza threw a super big sword at us and we all ducked. Then Kakashi-sensei fought against Zabuza and it was all like Boom! Swoosh! Pow! And Zabuza made a clone to attack us with his killing intent or something and Sasuke was all like I’m about to die and stuff but Kakashi-sensei said he’d protect us and stuff but then he got trapped in a water bubble thingy.” Naruto emphasized his story telling with large hand gestures, almost knocking over his ramen.

“How did he survive then?” Choji asked after Naruto finished off his fourth bowl.

“At first Kakashi-sensei told us to leave but we were like, ‘No Way!’ And then Sasuke and I did a combination attack! I gave him a Fuma Shuriken and Sasuke used a Shadow Shuriken technique so there were two of them flying at Zabuza. But he noticed this and ducked. What he didn’t notice was that I was transformed as the second Fuma Shuriken and I attacked Zabuza with a kunai so he had to let go of Kakashi-sensei. That water walking technique you told me about really came in handy there Shika because then, he threw me into the river!” Naruto beamed Shikamaru who blushed slightly.

“Congratulations, Naruto. When did you master water walking?” he wondered.

“I learned it before we left last weekend after our last meeting,” Naruto said. “You can learn almost anything when you have enough shadow clones working on it.”

“Man, I wish I could make a shadow clone, but I don’t have enough chakra yet,” Kiba complained and sulkily stirred his soup.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Kaka-sensei says that your chakra grows the more you use it, so you should get there soon enough,” Naruto consoled. Shikamaru noted that Naruto was using a nickname for his sensei. _So, they got closer on the trip?_ He wondered and vaguely felt a small jealous pang before it was smothered by the joy he felt at Naruto finally connecting with his team members. Although he knew it was wrong, he couldn’t help but want to hoard Naruto and keep him only to their small group. He felt leery inviting the rest of Team 7 to join them, but when he saw that blindingly happy grin on Naruto’s face, he knew he’d have to deal with. _Hah, how troublesome!_ He thought affectionately as he listened to Naruto talk.

“So, what happened for the rest of the mission?” Ino asked impatiently. The rest of the genin also looked at Naruto, deeply interested to hear the rest of the story.

“Well, after we were done with Wave and buried Zabuza and Haku we went to Whirlpool and then we came back here,” Naruto finished as if he already explained everything.

“Wait, you can’t just end there! You got to tell us what happened!” Kiba burst out while the other genin nodded and stared at Naruto, urging him to tell the rest of the tale.

“You sure you want to know? It’s a long story…” Naruto hesitated, still unused to having people pay attention to him.

“Naruto,” Shino began, “We want to know. Why? Because we are your friends and we care for you.”

Naruto blushed, which the genin secretly delighted at. Making the blonde blush once again after such a long absence gave them all warm fuzzy feelings. “Alright. Then, I better start at the beginning…”

* * *

Before the Fifth Meeting (Finally, The Trip to Wave!)

Shrouded in the shade of the forest, four figures loomed ominously as they glowered at their target. “Is the target in sight?”

“Yes commander!” “Target spotted!!!” “Ready to detain.” Three voices answered back together.

“Alright… GO!” the tallest one commanded from the shadows. Three figures burst out from the undergrowth and pounced on the unsuspecting target.

“Mission Completed!” Naruto announced as he hugged Tora tightly to his chest, not allowing the cat escape again.

“Nice teamwork guys!” Kakashi eye-smiled at his genin. “Let’s go to the Hokage tower and turn this mission in.” He started walking towards the tower. “We might even have some time for another mission if we hurry,” he goaded his genin to walk faster.

“Woah! Really, Kakashi-sensei? Are we going to rescue princesses, capture bad guys, save a village? Or…” Naruto babbled excitedly, his eyes growing wider as he thought of all the possible missions they could get. Sasuke scoffed at his teammates wild guesses, but a hint of excitement could be seen in his eyes. “…Or maybe we have to stop a group of S-rank villains run by a super evil bad guy who everyone thinks is dead and was brainwashed by an alien plant into using the moon to take over the world to promote peace!” Sakura just shook her head at the blonde wondering why only crazy people liked her. _If only it was Sasuke instead…_ Sasuke, on the other hand, stepped a little further away from Sakura, feeling a strange vibe coming from her that usually came from his fangirls.

Kakashi chuckled at his genin’s antics. “A plan to take over the moon, Naruto? Where do you come up with these ideas?” He asked and opened the door to the tower ushering them in.

“Well I had this strange dream where it happened but then a really old toad blamed Shikamaru for changing the future in a croaky voice and then I woke up,” he explained as he handed Tora over to the Fire Daimyo’s wife. She squealed and almost strangled Tora in her excitement. Kakashi just shook his head and handed the report to the Hokage.

“I see you have all been having fun!” Hiruzen smiled at the youngsters in front of him. “So what mission do you want to take next? Iruka has a whole list of them for you to choose from.”

Iruka cleared his throat and read of the list, “Weeding the field, painting fences, babysitting the elder’s grandchildren, and—” he was cut off by Madame Shijimi’s scream as Tora escaped once more. “And apparently catching Tora again,” he finished with a smile, looking expectantly at Team 7. Naruto wanted to complain about the boring missions but he remembered reading about how mission assignment was established after a joint genin mission between Konoha and Uzushio went wrong. But wait, if he remembered correctly, genin should be able to ask for C-ranks too.

“Iruka-sensei, can’t we have a C-rank instead?” Naruto asked, unconsciously pouting and looking up at Iruka with watery puppy-dog eyes.

“Okay,” Iruka agreed almost automatically before instantly regretting what he just said. “Wait, I don’t think you’re ready for-” he hurriedly tried to deny the request but Kakashi cut him off.

“We’ll take a C-rank, Iruka. They’re ready for it.” Kakashi’s tone held no room for any arguments. Iruka closely studied Kakashi’s expression, his doubts halted by Kakashi’s unusually serious tone. He noticed the pride Kakashi held for his team in his eyes.

“If you’re sure…” he said warily. Hiruzen watched this display, bemused. He knew how hard it must be for Iruka to see that Naruto was finally growing up. He made up his mind to send Team 7 on a C-rank mission. _Now which one looks good?_ Trailing his finger down the list, he spotted one that was perfect for them. _And it’s near Whirlpool too… Wasn’t Naruto asking to go there?_

“It’s settled then.” Hiruzen announced, getting excited. “Team 7, you will have an escort mission to Wave. After which, you will stop by the Land of Whirlpool to search for any hidden artefacts. Do you accept your mission?” He winked at Naruto who smiled at him cheerily.

“We accept our mission,” Kakashi’s voice rang out in the empty mission room.

“Awesome! Thanks, Jiji!” Naruto bounced excitedly. He couldn’t believe he was finally getting to see where his ancestors used to live and that he was also getting a C-rank mission! _So cool! I need to get Jiji a thank you present! Hmmm…Maybe I should prank those councilmen for him?_ His eyes glinted deviously as Danzo shivered, suddenly sensing something bad going to happen to him soon.

Sasuke’s lips twitched upwards at the thought of finally getting a C-rank mission. _Soon I’ll be able to take even higher missions until the day I will be strong enough to finally face you…_

Sakura squealed inwardly as she noticed Sasuke faintly smiling at her. She started to daydream about the future. _We’re going on a trip together! And then Sasuke will have to notice me, and then he’ll fall in love with me, and we’ll get married happily for ever after. Hah! Take that Ino-pig!_ She smiled lost in her thoughts. _If only Naruto wasn’t coming with us._ She sighed. _Oh well, at least it’s not another stupid D-rank!_

Kakashi eye-smiled at his genin, fondly guessing what they were thinking about. _Pranks, revenge, and boys… They haven’t changed much from their introductions. I better remind them about what to bring for the mission. Knowing Sakura, she’ll pack only her red dresses. And Sasuke will follow the academy guidelines strictly, but he’ll probably not pack enough stuff, while Naruto will definitely pack too much stuff, especially with those storage seals he has now…_

With each of Team 7 lost in their thoughts, they almost missed Tazuna’s big entrance. “Here’s your client! He’s a bridge builder from the Land of Wave and you four will be protecting him from bandits on the road.”

“This is my protection? An old man and his three stooges? Especially the shortest one with a stupid-looking face. Are you sure you’re a ninja?” Naruto just stayed quiet. Normally he would yell back, but he was used to people insulting him. It was better being underestimated. Wasn’t that what being a ninja was about? Besides, he was way too excited about the C-rank to care about any of the old drunk man’s insults. The drunkard just huffed, seeing he couldn’t get a rise out of the blonde, while Sasuke and Sakura didn’t even notice Naruto was insulted.

Kakashi was about to open his mouth and say that no, he was not an old man, thank you very much, when Tazuna insulted Naruto. He waited for Naruto to blow up, but noticed that Naruto didn’t say anything. _It’s almost as if he expects to be insulted by people and is now just resigned to it…_ “Now, that’s not very nice Tazuna-san. You shouldn’t provoke your protectors.” He smiled widely until his eyes were near slits. “Otherwise, something bad might happen…” _There that should be enough to scare him off of Naruto…_

Tazuna shuddered slightly and held his hands up in surrender. Kakashi smiled again, satisfied and looked back to his genin. Sasuke and Sakura didn’t seem to notice that anything was wrong. Naruto, on the other hand, was staring at Kakashi, shocked. He still couldn’t believe that people stood up for him, although it was getting more and more common every day since he made friends with the other genin. He smiled at Kakashi who gave him a small thumbs-up. “Alright, my cute little genin. Go pack up your stuff and we’ll meet by the village entrance in an hour. Don’t be late!” The three genin sweat-dropped when they heard Kakashi’s last sentence. _As if you should be saying that!_ They thought simultaneously. Kakashi then shunshined away to pack his own stuff.

Sasuke and Sakura both headed to their own houses to pack, while Naruto stayed behind. He already had all his stuff on him thanks to his seals, so he didn’t need to go pack. He walked up the spiral staircases to the Konoha Aviary and entered the circular building. Two Chunin were at the desk. One had short shaggy hair tucked into a cap letting his bangs fall in front of one eye, while the other had spiky hair tied back underneath his forehead protector and a beard.

“Welcome to the Konoha Aviary, for all your fast-paced messenger needs when the Konohagakure Central Post Office can’t help you,” the spiky-haired Chunin manning the store said. “Please head over to the civilian side to mail your letter, these birds are exclusively for Konoha’s ninja use.” He explained and pointed to the opposite corner where the ninja with bangs stood. Naruto walked over to the corner and scrutinized the birds, searching for one that looked like it could travel long distances. He finally settled on a large homing pigeon that was preening its feathers. “So, this bird will be able to reach anyone anywhere and if they can’t be found, then they’ll drop off the letter back at your home if you buy a two-way message bird?”

“Yup, these birds from the Land of Keys are known to be untraceable, so they’re great for ninja! They always find whoever the letter’s for, but you should buy two-way so the other person can write letter back and you’ll be able to get it quickly,” the bearded ninja explained as he cleaned out the bird bath.

“What if they don’t write back?” Naruto fretted as he stroked the pigeon he picked out. It let out a small _Coo_ and nuzzled him soothingly.

The Chunin with bangs let out a whistle, “Wow! That bird really likes you! First time I’ve seen it snuggle up to someone like that. Hey, Kotetsu, check it out!”

“What Izumo? Woah, that bird really likes you!” the spiky-haired Kotetsu exclaimed in shock as the bird started preening the blonde’s hair. Naruto lightly blushed and shifted a little.

Izumo then continued his explanation, “If person it delivers to doesn’t write a letter back, then the bird will come back in three days after delivery and let you send another letter.” The bird puffed out its chest and cooed.

“Say, do you sell these birds?” Naruto asked hopefully. The bird was starting to grow on him and he’d always wanted a companion other than his plants. _And if I had a pet, the apartment wouldn’t feel as lonely…_

“Sorry, kid. But, nope. If you wanted to send mail unlimitedly, you’d need to buy a monthly or yearly subscription or get a summon,” Kotetsu answered as he fiddled with the cash register on the desk. The pigeon ducked its head and crooned sadly.

“A summon? What’re those?” Naruto asked after patting the pigeon comfortingly.

“Hmm? There’s actually someone in this village that doesn’t know about summons?” Izumo raised an eyebrow at Naruto and almost dropped his towel in shock.

“Shut up! I just…didn’t pay attention in school much,” Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as the pigeon playfully pecked his fingers.

Kotetsu chuckled, “Well, summons are clans of intelligent animals that live in a special world separate from our own. They’re sort of like the Inuzuka’s companions, except they’re stronger, smarter, and can talk.”

“Woah!” Naruto said with wide-eyes. The pigeon bit one of the blonde’s fingers jealously. “Don’t worry, you’re still awesome,” Naruto assured the pigeon who cooed happily again before turning back to listen to Kotetsu’s explanation.

“Yeah! And the boss summons are really good fighters! But not everyone has them because they take too much chakra to maintain,” he explained.

“Where can I get one of them?” Naruto wondered. It sounded like a friend he could have at all times as long as he had enough chakra and he had a _lot_ of chakra.

“Well, unless you find a contract somewhere, you’re out of luck. Usually clans have a summons. Like the Uchiha have crows, the Aburame have giant insects, the Sarutobi have monkeys, the Hatake have dogs, the Shimura are rumored to have Baku, and Maito Gai has Tortoises. And there’s also the Densetsu no Sannin,” Kotetsu elaborated, stroking his beard.

“Wow, Kakashi-sensei has a summon! So cool! Who’re the dense seeing three ninjas?” Naruto asked as he wondered if his clan also had summons.

“It’s the Densetsu no Sannin and wait what! You seriously don’t know them? They’re famous in Konoha…” Izumo exclaimed.

“Hah, more like infamous…” Kotetsu snorted and interrupted him.

Izumo continued on as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “There’s Jiraiya who has toads and loves hot springs and then there’s the beautiful Tsunade Senju who has slugs and is a famous healer. They both are traveling around the world right now. And the last one is a traitor to the village. He did experiments on children and was caught by the Third! But he couldn’t kill his student, so he banished Orochimaru instead. But his ex-student who lives in the village still uses his snake summons to this very day. Although Orochimaru marked her with his seal, she remained loyal to the village.”

 _So, she has summons too?_ “Wow, you sure know a lot!” Naruto looked at Izumo with wide eyes making Izumo blush.

Kotetsu laughed “Hahaha! Yup, he sure does! Not bad for a couple of Chunin, huh? So, kid, you buying anything today?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah! I’ll take the two-way trip for a month,” Naruto said as he continued petting the bird.

“Alright, it’ll be 15,000 ryo,” Kotetsu tallied up and secretly winked at Izumo to not let Naruto know he was getting a discount. Izumo faintly smiled and helplessly shook his head at his partner’s antics.

“Here you go.” Naruto passed over the money. He then fished out a letter from his pocket seal and gave it to the bird. The pigeon nipped playfully at Naruto’s fingers and cooed at him before finally flying out the window.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Izumo called out as Naruto left the aviary. Naruto waved goodbye and walked down the spiral staircase. _It’s almost time for us to meet. I better head to the entrance!_ He thought and sprinted towards the entrance.

* * *

“Huff-I-huff-made it!” Naruto breathed heavily as he laid sprawled on the grass near the village’s entrance. Sasuke just rolled his eyes at the typical Naruto-like display.

Sakura had a vein throbbing on her large forehead as she berated the blonde, “Naruto-baka! You were almost late! And you don’t even have a backpack!”

Naruto just waved his hand from his position on the ground, “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

“Dobe, where’s your stuff? We didn’t pack extras for you,” Sasuke raised a brow at Naruto.

“I already have everything I need in my pocket seals, Teme,” Naruto answered lazily as he stretched out on the grass.

“Oh ho? Looks like you’re putting that book I gave you on seals to good use,” Kakashi materialized in front of the entrance.

“Yeah I’ve already gotten to chapter 6-2!” Naruto chirped and stood up, brushing the dirt off of him.

“Well I’ve gotten to chapter 12 of the book on healing you gave me, Kakashi-sensei. And I bet Sasuke read even further in his genjutsu book than I did, didn’t you, Sasuke?” Sakura asked expectantly.

Noticing the others watching him, Sasuke smirked and answered, “Hnn, 38.”

“Nice job kiddos!” Kakashi eye-smiled and patted Sakura’s and Naruto’s heads. Sakura growled and grumbled about how he ruined her hair, while the blonde just leaned into his touch happily, almost purring in contentment. _Maa, looks like Naruto is the farthest even though his is the hardest as the other two only have beginner level books. To already be on chapter 62, and still not notice!_ He shook his head in disbelief. _He’s really something... Sensei would be proud._ A loud yelp startled him out of his thoughts. Kakashi looked up to see Tazuna topple onto the pathway. _Revenge is sweet! That’s what you get for mocking my genin._ Kakashi’s eyes glinted a little and Tazuna shuddered, wondering where the cold draft following him around was coming from. “Time to go to Wave!”

“Woohoo! It’s my first time outside the village!” Naruto energetically shouted as he bounded along the path outside the village.

“He-y! Wait up for us!” Sakura shouted and grabbed Sasuke and dragged him along to chase after Naruto.

“Oh, to be young and energetic,” Kakashi said as he faked wiping a tear away before shuddering. _That felt a tad too much like Gai to be safe… or healthy…_

“I guess we should catch up,” Tazuna hesitantly added, still wary of Kakashi after he threatened him for insulting the blonde genin.

“Yes, I guess we should,” Kakashi echoed Tazuna and moved towards him. The bridge builder tensed up as the jounin stalked him until he hit the back of a tree.

“W-Wait! What’re you-” he shrieked as Kakashi swung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and took of sprinting in the direction the genin went.

* * *

“You don’t have to carry me anymore, I can walk,” Tazuna pointed out again in vain.

“No, that’s okay, I like carrying you, it’s faster,” Kakashi eye-smiled. _And it’s uncomfortable for you, which is even better. That’ll teach you to insult my genin._ Kakashi was still nursing a small grudge against Tazuna. The bridge builder sweat-dropped at the jounin’s overly casual response. “Actually, you know what? I think you should walk,” he dropped Tazuna on the ground as he narrowed his eyes at a puddle in the middle of the pathway.

“Oww…” Tazuna groaned.

“Hey, you okay, Mister?” Naruto asked. He might not have liked Tazuna in the beginning because of his insults towards him and the fact he smelled a little too much like the drunkards at Shushu-ya, but now all he felt was pity towards the man. Having to hang for three hours upside-down over Kakashi-sensei’s shoulders must’ve sucked. He could relate, being tied to that pole for three days was no walk in the park either…

“Yea ’m kay,” he slurred unsteadily.

“Maybe you should sit down somewhere…” Sakura suggested worriedly. This trip wasn’t anything like she expected. She never got any alone time with Sasuke and the client was always hanging over Kakashi-sensei’s shoulder and the bugs were everywhere and her feet hurt from walking so much that she had to change shoes half-way through the trip and hair was a disaster! There were leaves and mud and sticks stuck in it from Kakashi-sensei’s torture-training sessions of hiding in plain sight. She kicked a rock. _This sucks…_

Sasuke grunted, agreeing that Tazuna should take a break. Sakura immediately brightened up when she heard Sasuke approved of her idea. _Cha! True love prevails!_ Her eyes morphed into hearts. Sasuke noticed and shuddered.

“You know, Ino’s and Hinata’s eyes do the same thing too. Do you think they learned how to do it in the all-girls flower training classes back at the academy?” He whispered under his breath to Sasuke. The raven-haired genin peeled his eyes away from Sakura’s heart-shaped ones and nodded stiffly to Naruto. _Maybe I should send some shadow clones to join the girls class and see what they actually learn about._ Naruto contemplated and mentally commanded a few shadow clones to join the class.

The genin stopped right in front of the puddle in the middle of the road and sat down. Kakashi’s one good eye twitched. _Did they not notice anything wrong with this picture?_

“It’s so hot!” Sakura complained.

“Yeah, it hasn’t rained in days,” Kakashi pointed out on the slim hope that they would catch on.

“I wish we could take a dip in a pool. The only water I see is that puddle over there,” Naruto pointed at the puddle.

“It’s strange how it hasn’t evaporated yet, right?” Kakashi pointed out the puddle again. Sasuke grunted as a reply. _They still haven’t noticed yet, have they?_ Kakashi sweat-dropped. _Maybe I need to be more direct. They are only genin after all._ “Doesn’t that puddle seem suspicious?” He bluntly asked his genin and walked towards the puddle, only to be wrapped in chains and ripped apart!

“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto cried out and jumped to his feet. Sakura, alarmed by his scream, took a defensive position in front of Tazuna who blinked blearily at the two missing-nin that popped out of the puddle. Sasuke crouched low and counter-attacked while Naruto stood there frozen. _Kakashi-sensei’s…dead?_ He thought numbly and felt his chakra rile up. He shot forward and attacked the other missing-nin in a frenzy, barely noticing when a claw nicked him. Sasuke had already finished tying up the other, when Naruto’s ninja suddenly changed directions and aimed an attack at Sasuke’s unprotected back. “Sasuke! Look out!” Naruto yelled and dashed towards him as he turned around. _I’m not going to make it. It’s too far!_ Naruto thought desperately, almost giving up hope, when Kakashi-sensei landed directly on top of the other ninja and flattened him.

“Kawarimi?” Sasuke asked calmly, as if he wasn’t almost killed. Kakashi just nodded in reply.

“Now let’s see why Tazuna has ninja after him,” Kakashi said with a homicidal glint in his eyes. _How dare they try to hurt MY little genin!_

Naruto eyes widened as he took in the sight of Kakashi in front of him still alive and breathing, not ripped into a bunch of messy chunky pieces like he had thought before. _Alive. Kakashi-sensei’s okay._ The tension drained from his shoulders and the blonde moved closer to Kakashi to reassure himself that his sensei still remained in the land of the living.

“Naruto! You got hurt,” Sakura noticed that his hand was sluggishly bleeding.

“Huh?” Naruto asked, not really listening.

Kakashi squinted and analyzed the wound, “It looks like it was made by a poisoned blade.”

“We need to go back and get some medicine,” Sakura spoke up.

Sasuke nodded. Although this was his first C-rank, and his teammates annoyed him, he still didn’t really want them to die. _It would be a pain to get used to new teammates…_ “Let’s go back.”

“What, no! This is nothing,” Naruto insisted and stabbed the cut with a kunai to let the poison drain out. “Really, it’s nothing compared to some of the other poisonings-I mean injuries I’ve had in the village. Really. Look, it’s already stopped bleeding. Plus, I’ve got advanced healing,” he explained. Kakashi nearly winced at the reminder of Naruto’s terrible childhood. _I really need to find out where they keep Naruto’s medical files…_

“Let me wrap it, just in case,” Sakura asserted and Naruto relented when he saw the determined look in her eyes. Sasuke watched closely. He never knew Naruto had advanced healing. Then again, he didn’t know much about either of his teammates. _Maybe I should listen to them more… for intelligence gathering, not because I care about them. Intelligence gathering, yeah._ He tried convincing himself.

“It looks like I was too tough on the prisoners,” Kakashi’s voice cut across the silence. Tazuna and the genin looked over to where Kakashi was _interrogating_ the two ninjas. They were unconscious, spasming on the ground as white foam dribbled from their mouths. _What did he do to them?_ They thought in horrified awe. “Tazuna, mind telling us why you have the B-ranked Demon Brothers from Mist after you?” he glared at Tazuna who gulped.

“Well…You see…Ok fine!” he stopped dragging out the explanation after Kakashi glared at him harder. “There’s this midget named Gato who’s trying to kill me because I’m building a bridge!” Team 7 just looked at Tazuna confused. _What?_ “But, you don’t need to protect me or my cute daughter or little grandson. Gato will probably attack, but we’ll be fine. He’ll just kill all of us and Wave, but we don’t really need your help,” he continued his monologue, guilting the genin of Team 7 into protecting him.

“Gato of Gato shipping corps, huh?” Kakashi muttered. He could probably still handle this mission. It was probably a B-rank, an A-rank at most. “I guess we have no choice,” Kakashi announced while his genin looked at him anxiously, wanting to continue on with the mission. “Except to take the mission!” he exclaimed loudly. While the genin cheered, he leaned down to whisper into Tazuna’s ear, “But if you ever lie to me about anything that could hurt my genin again, I will make you disappear, understand?” Tazuna dryly swallowed and shakily nodded. “Good. Konoha will send out a delegation to discuss the payment once the mission is completed.” He eye-smiled at Tazuna who just sweat-dropped at Kakashi’s sudden mood-swing.

Kakashi dismissed Tazuna from his mind and thought about what he had to do next. _Let’s summon Pakkun for now and let the Hokage know about the change in plans._ Kakashi quickly made a few hand signs and summoned Pakkun.

“Wow! Is that one of your summons, Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto asked curiously.

“You got that right, pup!” Pakkun answered for Kakashi. “Yo, Scarecrow, I’ll deliver that letter to the Hokage and then guard the prisoners. Sound, good?”

“Yeah, that sounds good, Pakkun. Let me know what the Hokage says, kay?” Kakashi lazily responded.

“Will do!” Pakkun barked affirmatively.

“Sensei, what are summons?” Sakura inquired, shocked that Naruto knew something she didn’t. Sasuke also turned towards Kakashi, interested in his answer.

“Hmm? You didn’t learn about them in the academy? Why don’t I let Naruto explain?” he said and gently pushed Naruto forward.

Naruto’s cheeks reddened slightly. Sakura and Sasuke stared at their teammate, intrigued by the new color he turned. “Summons are sort of like the companions the Inuzuka use, except they’re smarter and stronger and live in a different world! They can also talk!”

“What do you mean they live in a different world? That’s impossible?” Sakura frowned and crossed her arms. Sasuke listened to their conversation intently.

“It’s hard to explain. It’s not exactly a different world, but more like a different plane of existence. It’s sort of like when you seal something in a storage seal. You can’t feel the stuff anymore because it’s in a different place. Summons are like that too, they also live in a different place,” Naruto tried to explain. Sakura just stared at Naruto in disbelief. _Since when did Naruto-baka become smart? I guess I can’t call him a baka anymore…”_ Sasuke was also surprised by his rival’s intelligence. _I guess there’s more to you after all._

* * *

The group continued on their way down the path, taking a boat across a river and kept walking until they reached a small area to rest in. “What’s wrong, Naruto?” Kakashi asked, noticing his blonde student tense up a little.

“It’s weird, I feel like something is watching us from over there,” he gestured to the forest. “And before we came here, I made a seal to detect killing intent so we wouldn’t be ambushed again, and it’s warning me that something’s over there.”

Kakashi was impressed Naruto detected the enemy before he did. _My cute students are growing up so_ _fast!_ He teared-up mentally while he outwardly issued out a command, “Get down!” He then harshly shoved Tazuna down and lightly swept Naruto towards the ground as Sasuke tackled Sakura out of the way. A huge broadsword embedded itself in the trees behind them at the same level their heads used to be.

“I guess that wasn’t enough to get rid of Sharingan Kakashi, huh?” a shirtless man said from on top of the sword. His wore long waisted pants and had bandages covering his face. He would look foreboding if it weren’t for the cow print leg and arm warmers…

“Sharingan?” Sakura wondered aloud.

“Zabuza Momochi, one of Mist’s Seven Swordsmen and a known expert in silent killing,” Kakashi summarized as Sasuke eyed him in suspicion, searching for his hidden Sharingan.

“Oh?” Zabuza raised one of his shaved eyebrows. “You’ve heard of me? Then this should make things easy, hand over the man and no one gets hurt.” He grinned, showing off a set of pointed teeth.

“What do you think, kids? Should we hand Tazuna over?” Kakashi asked half-serious as he surveyed the perimeter. _Seems like it’s only him. There’s a presence further out, but it doesn’t have any killer intent so it’s probably not another ninja._

“Kakashi-sensei We can’t!” Naruto protested. Although Tazuna was a cranky old man, he’d grown on Naruto in the short time they’d known each other. It also helped that Tazuna hadn’t insulted him once since he got to know him even more. By his estimates, that made him nicer than 90% of the people back in the village! _And his family is counting on us! We can’t just leave Wave alone!_ Sakura nodded her head as Sasuke merely grunted his approval.

“Looks like your out of luck, Zabuza. My genin seem to really like our client, so I can’t let you kill him,” Kakashi started plotting out the easiest way to take down Zabuza.

“Yes, it seems I have to kill your genin before getting to him,” Zabuza agreed and made a Mizu Bunshin to deal with the genin. Kakashi discarded his plans and started thinking of the most painful way to kill Zabuza. _How dare he go after MY genin!_

As if feeling the increase in difficulty, Zabuza tensed up but then relaxed when he remembered Haku waiting in the forest if anything went wrong. He then ducked down as flaming bullet shot past him.

Kakashi wasn’t holding back at all. He shot two more fire bullets at Zabuza and quickly made the hand sign for a Kage Bunshin. He sent one to help out his genin and commanded the other to hide in the bushes using Naruto’s modified fire-erasing technique to see how the situation panned out. He then uncovered his Sharingan. _Man, this is going to drain a lot of chakra._ He shot over the burning embers in front of him and set out to confront Zabuza.

* * *

In the meantime, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were protecting Tazuna from Zabuza’s shadow clone. “I’ll set up a seal array to protect Tazuna. Give me five minutes and I’ll have it up!” Naruto yelled out and immediately unsealed his supplies. Sasuke didn’t bother answering and rushed at Zabuza’s clone.

“You think a mere genin’s sealing array could keep me out?” the Mizu Bunshin mocked before catching ahold of Sasuke’s fist and sending him crashing into a tree.

“Sasuke!” Sakura cried out as Sasuke struggled to stand up. The clone was about to finish Sasuke off when Sakura stepped in front of his path.

“What do you think you can do?” it sneered at Sakura’s trembling form. Sakura tried to stop shaking and stand up straight. _He’s going to kill me! But…I can’t step down now, Sasuke needs me! ...and Naruto does too! I can’t let him kill my teammates. I might not be able to fight, but that doesn’t mean I can’t stall!_ “As if you can hurt me! You’re just a little girl playing ninja, and you’re not even pretty with that big forehead and flat chest.”

Inner Sakura reared up its head after hearing the Mizu Bunshin’s insults. _YOU’RE GOING DOWN!!! No one insults me and gets away with it,_ “I AM NOT WEAK, SHANNARO!!!” Sakura eyes glinted murderously as she channeled all her strength to her fist and struck the clone. It flew across the clearing narrowly missing Sasuke who’s eyes widened at the sudden strength Sakura had shown. He quickly followed up Sakura’s attack and shot a flame at the flying Mizu Bunshin. Sakura quickly descended upon the clone and let loose with another series of punches. “My forehead isn’t big and I’m still growing. I’m also an amazing ninja, you cow-printed pervert!” she pounded each statement into the clone’s head before collapsing on the ground, breathing heavily. Sasuke also stopped attacking, noticing the clone wasn’t moving. _So, she’s not totally useless in a fight after all…_ He thought as he looked at his teammate in a new light. He shuddered when he noticed that Sakura’s eyes were still glinting maniacally. _Maybe, that female training class really does teach secret eye techniques…_

“Pay attention!” a voice barked across the clearing as Kakashi’s Kage Bunshin stood over Sasuke and Sakura blocking the sneak attack the Mizu Bunshin performed. “Never think a fight is over until you destroy the body,” he cautioned as he protected the genin. The Mizu Bunshin growled and attacked once more, this time actually managing to pop Kakashi’s clone by aiming an attack at Sakura but switching to Naruto at the last second. Sakura and Sasuke tried to fight against the clone, but they were already tired out from their last fight.

“Are you almost done, Naruto? We could really use your help any time now!” Sakura gritted her teeth together and attempted to cast a genjutsu on the clone. The Mizu Bunshin easily released the genjutsu and aimed a water bullet at Sasuke.

“I’m almost done! Give me thirty seconds!” Naruto yelled out as he drew the finishing touches on the array and quickly began running through a series of hand signs.

“Feel free to join us any time now, Dobe!” Sasuke panted as he avoided the water bullet and threw a few shuriken at the clone.

“…Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Snake, Uzumaki Kekkaimon Gofūjutsu: Hachimon Heijō!” Naruto finally finished the barrier seal to protect Tazuna, who goggled at the four large gates that rose up out of the ground. Naruto dashed over to where Sakura and Sasuke were fighting with the Mizu Bunshin and aimed at kick at the clone. “Uzumaki Naruto has finally arrived!”

“Naruto!” Sakura shouted out as she regrouped with them in a Manji formation, blocking the Mizu Bunshin from Tazuna. “Let’s have two people attack at the same time but switch out after an attack,” she suggested. “Both Sasuke and I are tired from fighting, but since you’re fresh, you’ll be able to fight more.”

“Sounds good,” Naruto agreed outwardly. _But I don’t know how long I can fight for, that barrier really took a lot out of me._ Naruto instantly made 30 Kage Bunshin and had two of them disguise themselves as part of the floor using his secret erasing presence technique. “Let’s rumble!” he shouted, distracting the clone and allowing Sasuke to shoot a fire ball at its side. The Zabuza-look alike simply dodged and aimed an ice spear at Naruto as Sakura switched positions with Sasuke. Naruto leaned to the side to avoid the spear and stuck his tongue out at the Mizu Bunshin. “Hahaha! You’re aim sucks!” Naruto insulted the clone as he dodged.

“What if I wasn’t aiming for you?” the clone smirked with its shark teeth at the genin who saw the spear flying at the barrier.

“Dammit!” Sasuke cursed before taking off after the spear.

“Don’t bother!” Naruto said as he stopped Sasuke. “There’s no way you’re going to make it in time and it’s not going to be able to do anything to the barrier anyways.”

“I used 80% of my remaining strength on that spear! Still think a flimsy barrier is going to withstand its attack?” the clone sneered at the genin. The spear flew in an arc and stabbed straight into the barrier appearing to penetrate before it was engulfed in flames.

“Ha! Take that! Nothing can penetrate my Uzumaki barrier!” Naruto bragged as the Mizu Bunshin stared in disbelief.

“But that’s impossible! It should’ve been able to go through, I used almost all my remaining strength!” the clone couldn’t believe that a genin’s barrier had stopped one of its most powerful attacks.

“Believe it!” Naruto shouted as his two hidden clones burst from the ground and aimed two kicks at the Mizu Bunshin, sending it flying towards a tree where it crumpled on the floor. As the Bunshin laid on the ground, Sakura slowly crept up and stabbed down with a kunai.

“Take this!” she screamed and plunged the kunai into the clone’s chest. It burst into water, soaking everyone in the clearing (except Tazuna who was still in the barrier). Sakura flipped her wet hair out of her face and put her hand on her hip. “That’s what you get for insulting a beautiful ninja!” she nodded in satisfaction and then joined Naruto and Sasuke. “We should get going to where Kakashi-sensei is.” The other two genin nodded and they took off towards where they last saw Kakashi and Zabuza fighting.

* * *

Kakashi stiffened as he felt his clone burst after it protected his genin from a sneak attack. Both Kakashi and Zabuza jumped backwards after their last attacks. “That clone…It’s not a normal one, is it?” Kakashi asked, suspicious. _There’s no way a clone could launch a sneak attack after taking that much damage!_

“No,” Zabuza agreed with a smirk. “It isn’t. But you aren’t going to live long enough to find out!” Kakashi raced forwards and stabbed at Zabuza who then broke into a puddle of water. “Tricked you!” Zabuza chortled as he slashed through Kakashi who then also burst into water.

“No, fooled you!” Kakashi said as he held a kunai to Zabuza’s throat. “It’s over!” he announced about to slit Zabuza’s throat when he heard the bushes rumble.

“Kakashi-sensei! We’re here to help!” Naruto’s voice came out clearly.

“Naruto! What’re you guys doing here?” Kakashi asked in surprise, slightly loosening his grip on his prisoner. Zabuza took this moment to sneakily substitute with a clone waiting behind him.

“Sensei we came for you! We just finished fighting with that cow pervert’s clone!” Sakura agreed. Kakashi blinked at this new nickname wondering what had got Sakura so riled up.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the situation and smirked, “Looks like you’ve already got this covered, huh, Sensei?”

“Guessed wrong genin!” Zabuza’s voice rang out as he trapped Kakashi from behind allowing the ‘prisoner’ Kakashi was holding turn back into a pool of water. “Thanks to your distraction, I was able to free myself,” he continued.

“Sensei!” Naruto and Sakura cried out as Sasuke’s grip tightened on his weapons, preparing to fight Zabuza.

“We fought your clone and won. We’re not afraid of you,” Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Zabuza.

“You fought my clone and barely won with all three of you? Then you should be scared because that Mizu Bunshin only had 10% of my capabilities! I didn’t get named Demon of the Mist for nothing!” Zabuza ridiculed.

“Run! Leave me behind and protect Tazuna!” Kakashi yelled out from the water bubble prison. “Zabuza is on a whole another level compared to you three!” Zabuza aimed his killing intent at the genin, laughing as he saw them shiver.

 _I’m going to die here today. The killing intent is too strong, I need to… I need…_ Sasuke thought as he brought up a kunai towards his neck. _I need to die!_ He was about to stab down when Naruto slapped the kunai out of his hands.

“Stop it! What’re you guys getting scared of? We just need to free Kakashi-sensei and then we can kick his ass!” He pointed an accusing finger at Zabuza, “And anyways, I’ve got a real demon inside of me that’s way scarier than you are!” Sasuke snapped out of his trance and shook his head. What was he thinking, trying to kill himself? He still had a clan to avenge and repopulate! _And it took Naruto, of all people, to snap me out of it!_ Sakura stopped shivering and stood tall again. _As if I’m going to let this cow-pervert scare me!_ Her inner voice roared.

“Yeah! I’m not scared of you, you cow-pervert with no eyebrows!” Sakura screamed at Zabuza who growled. His eyebrows were a sensitive thing to him. Ever since an accident with a fire jutsu singed them, they had stopped growing. The pink-haired banshee just had to point out his one sore spot… And there was nothing wrong with his cow-print leg and arm warmers! In fact, he thought they were very fashionable. _Haku even said they looked very manly on me! I don’t look like a cow-pervert! Even though Haku has questionable tastes, he still looks really good…No! I’m not opening that door! Not going there!_

The genin, heedless to Zabuza’s inner struggles, immediately came up with a plan to free their sensei. “You know what to do right?” Naruto asked as he passed a Fuma Shuriken to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded and smirked, “Leave it to me.” Naruto nodded and Sakura rubbed her palms together.

“Let’s get this show on the road!” she said and healed a few of the cuts and scratches Sasuke had. _That’s weird. Naruto doesn’t have any bruises, I’m sure I saw him get hit with at least one technique-oh wait, he has that advanced healing thing…_

“Oi, Brow-less!” Sasuke called out. “Take this!” he yelled and threw the Fuma Shuriken at Zabuza who easily plucked it out of the air.

“You think that was enough to stop me?” he tried to scoff but was cut off and forced to jump instead when he saw the hidden second Fuma Shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first one. _These genin are interesting…_ “Still not enough!” he said, slightly impressed that three genin could push him so far.

“That’s what you think! Now!” Sakura shouted and the Fuma Shuriken turned into Naruto who then threw a kunai at Zabuza.

“Damnit!” Zabuza cursed as he was forced to let go of Kakashi.

“Hahaha, how was our plan, Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto laughed as he landed on top of the water. _Phew, it worked. Now Kakashi-sensei’s free!_ He noticed then that he was standing in the middle of the water. _It’s a good thing Shika told me about water walking, otherwise I’d be a sitting duck!_

“Nice teamwork, guys! I’m glad those lessons are finally working out for you,” Kakashi smiled at his genin who slightly shivered remembering their daily torture-training teamwork sessions. “Maybe I’ll cut down on them from now on,” Kakashi suggested and all three of the genin perked up at the thought of less sessions. _Still, that was a good plan. I’m so proud of them! Especially Naruto. He came up with the plan, and since when could he water walk? Looks like I need to advance their training more…_ He straightened up and turned towards Zabuza. “I won’t fall for the same trick twice!” he announced and sent three water dragons flying at Zabuza who retaliated with three of his own. They stared each other down as the attacks subsided. _Strange it’s almost like…_ “He’s reading my thoughts?” Kakashi spoke aloud and copied Zabuza’s movements. _What? Damn! Did he read my mind? That-_ “Freaky eye is pissing me off! Right?” Kakashi copied, shocking Zabuza.

“Heh, all you’re doing is copying me!” Zabuza began.

“You can’t beat me monkey bastard!” Both jounin shouted out at the same time. Zabuza controlled his growing apprehension. _That’s…me?_ He wondered noticing Kakashi’s form morphing to match his own. _It can’t be, a genjutsu?_ Both ninja activated the same jutsu at each other, “Water Explosion no Jutsu!” A huge wave of water descended upon both jounin, _No way! I can’t keep up, he’s pushing me back!_ Kakashi knocked Zabuza back and pinned him to a tree.

“Can you see the future?” Zabuza had to ask.

“Yes,” Kakashi calmly answered. “And the future ends in your death!” He moved towards Zabuza to land the final blow. _That’s what you get for trying to kill my cute little genin…And trying to ruin our mission._ Two needles shot across the clearing and stabbed into Zabuza’s neck.

“Hehe… You’re right! He’s dead~” a masked ninja spoke. Kakashi checked for Zabuza’s pulse but couldn’t find one. _He’s dead…_ “Thank you for stopping Zabuza! I’ve been trying to kill him for a long time.”

“That mask… You’re a Hidden Mist Hunter-nin, right?” Kakashi asked while Sasuke and Sakura couldn’t believe their eyes. _That ninja, he’s younger than us and was easily able to kill Zabuza?_ Sasuke clenched his fists. _I need to become even stronger than him to kill my brother._ While Sakura was just shocked that someone so small could easily kill off Zabuza, someone their sensei even had trouble fighting! Naruto, on the other hand, was deep in thought. _That presence…This man, he feels familiar. And he used ice as a weapon…just like the shadow clone…_

“Impressive, you’re correct. But, I should expect nothing less from Sharingan Kakashi. Yes, I am a member of the Hidden Mist Hunter-nin. My duty is to hunt down Missing-nin.” Kakashi stroked his chin. _Judging from his voice, he’s not much older than Naruto and he was still able to become a Hunter-nin. This kid isn’t normal…_

Naruto was tired of thinking any longer and just burst out, “What the hell? Who are you!”

Kakashi answered, “Don’t worry, Naruto. He’s not an enemy.”

“I wasn’t asking that!” Naruto was slightly mollified by Kakashi’s reassurance that the Hunter-nin wasn’t an enemy. “That- Zabuza, a guy that strong, was killed!” _Why would he kill him if he was pretending to be him? Was he luring him out by being him or something? Like when I pranked Iruka-sensei by imitating him and saying weird things to people to get him in trouble? But how would that work? I don’t get it…_ While Naruto was confused by the Hunter-nin’s actions, Sasuke continued what Naruto was saying in a different direction.

“He’s right! That Hunter-nin is the same age as us but was easily able to take down Zabuza! A guy that strong was killed by a kid! How can I understand that?” Sasuke echoed. _He was able to get that powerful at the same age as me. Is my training not enough?_

 _Sasuke…_ Sakura thought in concern.

“Well. I know how you feel but… This is also the truth. In this world, there exists kids that are younger than you…yet stronger than me,” Kakashi finished. Sasuke looked away. Naruto just frowned. _No, that still doesn’t answer my questions, though…_

Sakura tightened her bruised fists. _Don’t worry, Sasuke. I’ll get stronger, way stronger. And then I’ll be able to protect you, Sensei, and even Naruto. I’ll get strong enough to protect my team too so I don’t have to be protected anymore!_ She vowed.

“Your battle is over now, so I’ll dispose of this body. It has a lot of secrets~” the Hunter-nin concluded and vanished with the body, only leaving a few droplets behind.

“He’s gone!” Naruto exclaimed. _And I didn’t get to ask why he was mimicking Zabuza…_

Kakashi sighed as he looked around and made sure there were no other foreign presences in their near vicinity. “Haaaa… Now we have to take Tazuna home. Luckily I made a clone before this because I’m on low reserves and can barely move.” Kakashi’s clone jumped out of the bush it was hidden in and piggy-backed Kakashi. “So, where did you leave Tazuna?”

“Over here, Sensei!” Sakura lead the group to where the barrier was.

* * *

Back in the forest, the masked ninja laid Zabuza’s body on the ground. He took out a sharp tool and walked to the body. “Now, I need to make an incision to drain out the blood.” He reached towards Zabuza’s neck when a hand reached out and caught his wrist. “Oh, you’ve come back to life already? That’s too bad. I was looking forward to _helping_ you,” he smiled and shook his hand free.

“No need,” Zabuza refused and ripped the senbon free from his neck. “You’re too rough with me,” he complained. “Couldn’t you have aimed for somewhere other than my neck?”

“But then I could have scarred your beautiful body,” Haku pouted before continuing. “And the neck is the easiest place to fake your death. But you’re getting rusty if a group of genin and a jounin-sensei was able to defeat you.”

“They caught me by surprise,” he refuted. “It won’t happen again!” He scowled and then thought of something and smirked. “Anyways, it looks like you couldn’t hold yourself back. Did you have fun playing with the baby genin when you pretended to be my Mizu Bunshin?”

“Don’t be jealous, Zabuza-sama, I don’t want to play with anyone but you,” Haku earnestly proclaimed as Zabuza choked. “Careful, don’t aggravate your wound,” Haku scolded gently.

“It’s because you say things like that kid, I worry about you…” Zabuza muttered under his breath as he shook his head.

“You’ll be all healed in one week, what are you planning to do now, Zabuza-sama?” Haku asked, pretending to not have noticed Zabuza’s mumblings.

“The plan is still on. Next time, I’ll defeat the Sharingan!”

* * *

Meanwhile, Tazuna was pacing in the middle of the barrier. “I shouldn’t have let those kids go without me. What can they do against that ninja. If only I could get out of this barrier!” He sighed and sat back on the ground. _I hope they’re alright. I shouldn’t have concealed what the mission was about. I should’ve…Hey, what’s that?_ He squinted and saw three figures coming out of the woods. _Did they come back? Wait, what’s that on their sensei’s back? Is that… another sensei?_ He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. _Am I seeing double or is it just the alcohol? But I didn’t drink that much today…_ “Hey! Kids, you’re back! And your sensei…your senseis are too!” _I’ll just pretend there were always two of them… Actually, this explains the mood swings!_ Convinced he was right, Tazuna ignored the sight of the two Kakashi and turned his attention back to the blonde genin. “I don’t know what you did, but this thing is really hard to get out of, kid!”

Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head, “Thanks!”

“No, it wasn’t really a compliment…” the bridge builder trailed off as he saw the two Kakashi approach.

“Hmm, is this an original seal, Naruto?” Kakashi’s clone asked raising an eyebrow at Naruto.

“Nope, it’s just a Modified Barrier Gate Five Seals Technique: Castle Closing Eight Gates! It’s supposed to use a scroll to activate it, but I condensed the formula so I could put it up faster. I’m still only down to five minutes, though. With practice, I should be able to put it up in 15 seconds flat!” Naruto grinned and then pouted at the amount of practice it would take to achieve a feat.

Kakashi was impressed, “Wow! Keep up the good work, Naruto!” He noticed the intricate depictions of the four animal symbols of each direction on the gates. Only really advanced seal masters could invoke the four animal directional symbols in their sealing. He was impressed Naruto had even succeeded at his attempt. _Amazing, I don’t think even Sensei could do that. Even Kushina had trouble with this seal. He’s already on his way to surpassing his parents._ “Alright, lets head to Tazuna’s place,” Kakashi decided after Naruto took down the barrier, allowing the gates to collapse back into the ground. No sign of them to be seen anywhere.

“Okay, Sensei!” Sakura agreed as Sasuke followed her up the path. Tazuna shakily walked up the trail as Naruto offered to switch places with Kakashi’s clone. It agreed and placed Kakashi on Naruto’s path and headed further down the path to scout for any irregularities.

“We’re only five minutes away from my place. I bet my daughter cooked us up some dinner and there’s also a resting place for your senseis.”

“What do you mean senseis? We only have one sensei,” Sakura asked.

“But there are two of them…” Tazuna said confused.

“One’s a shadow clone,” Sasuke grunted out.

“A what?”

“A shadow clone is when…” Sakura started explaining the technique to Tazuna.

“Ano, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto began as Sakura continued her explanation.

“Yes, Naruto?” Kakashi asked, wondering what was on his student’s mind.

“Why was the-” he was cut off by Tazuna’s daughter Tsunami opening the door.

“Hello, you must be the ninja my dad hired. Thank you for protecting him and our town!” she said as she ushered them.

“No problem Tsunami-san,” Sakura said as she walked inside. “Is there a place where our sensei can rest? He got too excited and tired himself out. He is an old man after all…”

“Hey! Don’t call me an old man! I’m still in my prime!” Kakashi defended himself.

“You’re old enough to get chakra exhaustion in a small fight, sensei,” Sasuke deadpanned.

“Mou, my genin are calling me old! You don’t think I’m old, right Naruto?” Kakashi asked Naruto who laid him on the bed.

“Yeah! Being in your 30s is nowhere near old compared to Jiji’s age!” Naruto consoled him energetically.

Kakashi sulkily said, “…I’m only 26.” _Just because my hair is white doesn’t mean I’m old! It’s genetics, all genetics! Just like how Sakura has pink hair, I have-_

“Sensei, why do I feel like you’re insulting me in your mind?” Sakura asked sharply, sensing Kakashi talking about her.

“You must be imagining things,” Kakashi eye-smiled at her and inwardly sweat-dropped. _She has surprisingly sharp senses for someone who’s supposed to be only book smart. Actually, speaking of surprises…_ “Naruto weren’t you about to ask me something on our way here?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah! I was going to ask why the Hunter-nin was pretending to be Zabuza’s clone,” Naruto asked as he slurped up the noodles Tsunami served them for dinner.

Kakashi stopped eating and narrowed his eyes, “The same person as the Mizu Bunshin?”

“Yeah, he had the same presence as that guy in the mask. Both of them were very calm and cold. I thought it was weird because both of them didn’t give off any killing intent according the seal, so I figured they were the same person.”

“What? No way they can be the same person, Naruto-ba…” Sakura was about to continue when she stopped. _That’s right, he’s not an idiot anymore. And he hasn’t once asked me out since this trip began…_  “The clone in the woods burst into water, remember Naruto?”

“It might have switched with the Mizu Bunshin to fight with us when it noticed Zabuza was in danger so it switched back with the clone to help in dealing with Kakashi-sensei,” Sasuke inferred as he stirred his soup.

“No way! You said the Hunter-nin killed off Zabuza!” Tazuna disagreed and shook his chopsticks at them.

“I did think the Hunter-nin was strange. Body Disposal Teams usually get rid of the body right in front of us and if he needed evidence then he could’ve just taken the head. And those weapons he used…” Kakashi trailed off.

“No way!” Sasuke realized while Naruto just looked confused.

“He used senbon, which are traditionally used by medical ninja! I remember reading about them. He could’ve put Zabuza in a temporary death state, but that means it should take about a week for him to heal after that,” Sakura shouted out.

“He could still be alive!” Naruto concluded shaking with excitement at the thought of fighting Zabuza again.

“How are we going to fight him with you hurt, sensei? We could barely take him down the first time and now he has a partner!” Sakura fretted as she pushed her food around her plate.

“Don’t underestimate yourselves! Who got me free? You all three did with teamwork! And that’s why I’m going to train you until I get better. We should be ready for the fight then.”

“Training?” Sasuke asked interested, pushing his finished bowl away from him.

 “Sounds like fun!” Naruto beamed at Kakashi-sensei.

“No, it doesn’t,” a short boy wearing a striped hat objected as he stepped into the room.

“Inari, meet Team 7, they are the ninja protecting your grandfather” Tsunami said as she came over with a tray in her hands.

“Mom, they’re going to die,” he bluntly stated.

“How do you know? Can you see the future?” Naruto asked confused.

“What? No, I-” he was cut off by Sakura.

“Well of course we are going to die, all humans do eventually,” Sakura added conversationally. Sasuke just ignored the shorty. No way was he going to die before he avenged his clan.

“No! I mean Gato’s going to kill you,” he said heatedly, practically shouting, not liking how the ninjas were making light of Gato.

“Can Gato make water dragons?” Sakura asked.

“No, but he can-”

“Can he shoot fire bullets from his hands?” Sasuke contributed, noticing what his teammates were trying to do.

“Nope, but-”

“Is he trying to use the moon to revive a Rabbit Goddess Alien creature?” Naruto added.

“What?” Inari stopped protesting, confused by the direction the conversation just turned.

“Ignore him…But the point is, if Gato can’t do any of these things, why would he be able to kill us? Isn’t he just a civilian?” Sakura concluded.

“He has an army of thugs that’ll beat you up and kill you!” Inari was yelling at this point. His face reddened with restrained anger.

“Well Naruto can make like a thousand solid clones, so we have our own army… And the thugs can’t even do ninja techniques, so we’ll probably be fine,” Sasuke dismissively stated while wondering why he was getting involved in this conversation.

“You don’t understand! You guys aren’t heroes!” Inari shouted.

“Sakura never said we were heroes… Most real heroes are dead anyways, so I’m not really looking forward to being a hero any time soon,” Kakashi pointed out.

“Huh? Wait, what? Most heroes die?” Inari asked in bewilderment.

“Well to be a hero, you have to protect someone and save them from dying. So, usually when you protect someone, you take their place for them and end up dead. But that’s okay, because all people die anyways, so you’ll meet them eventually again,” Naruto explained.

“How do you know? It’s not like you’ve ever seen a ghost!” Inari immediately protested.

“No, but my something great-grandma’s husband’s brother liked to bring people back to life. And when he asked them about how the afterlife was they always said it was great! And that they were looking forward to him joining them, so he got creeped out and made it a forbidden jutsu,” Naruto eagerly told Inari about the knowledge he had read about in his book of Uzumaki history. Kakashi just looked at Naruto bemused, wondering which relative he was talking about. _Then again, the Uzumaki were a strange bunch…_ He shuddered remembering the more _interesting_ pranks Kushina had pulled as revenge against Minato. _I hope Naruto doesn’t follow in her footsteps._ He prayed but let go of his hope, remembering the peanut-butter prank…

Sakura was gob-smacked. She couldn’t believe half the stuff Naruto was saying. _Then again, Naruto doesn’t really lie. So, that means that there really is an afterlife? Hell yes! I can be with Sasuke forever!_ While Sakura rejoiced, Sasuke was still processing the fact that the after-life existed and that he would be reunited with his parents (and clan) sooner or later. _This means I can see them all again? Mother… Father… I won’t let you down when I come join you guys. I will definitely kill Itachi to avenge the clan!_ He silently promised his parents.

“Really?” Inari asked in disbelief. Ninja really were a lot weirder than he expected. He hadn’t believed the stories his dad used to tell him about the stuff they could do. But now, it looked like they might actually stand a chance against Gato, especially if they could talk to the dead!

“Yeah, it was hilarious to read her complaints about the technique! Apparently, he made it to bring his dead pet back to life, but it ended up only working out on humans…” Naruto recalled what he read. He still couldn’t believe that the Second Hokage made a zombie jutsu to resurrect Mittens, his dead pet Onbaa...

“Anyways…” Everyone looked over at Kakashi who began speaking, “Training will begin tomorrow morning, so sweet dreams everyone~” He eye-smiled at the group and closed the door to his room.

“I’ll help Tsunami out with the dishes before sleeping. Good night Sasuke! …Naruto,” she added after a pause.

“Good night Sakura!” Naruto chirped and pulled Sasuke up with him. “Come on Teme!” he dragged Sasuke with him to the bedroom. Sasuke grunted sleepily and waved at Sakura before joining Naruto in setting up the sleeping bags.

Inari was left alone in the living room. _Maybe, if it’s them, they can actually save this place._ He thought as a small hope that his village would be free again reignited within him. He looked up at the picture hanging on the wall and for the first time since his father’s death, he brought himself to look at it. Inari silently stared at his dad’s smiling face. _Father, when I meet up with you again, I’ll tell you that even in death, you’re still my hero…_

* * *

Day #2: Training in the Forest

“Today’s the first day of training!” Kakashi spoke lazily ignoring his genin’s high tension. “The first thing we’re going to do is talk about chakra.”

“What about it?” Naruto asked wondering what they were going to be learning about. _Maybe Kakashi-sensei is going to test our affinities!_ “Are we going to be checking our chakra affinities?” Naruto excitedly bounced on the balls of his heels.

“No, not today. But, I’m surprised you know about them. Do you know what your affinity is?” Kakashi asked Naruto in surprise.

Naruto nodded, “Yeah! Mine’s wind! But I’m not that good at it yet. I can only split a leaf so far…” Naruto grimaced remembering how the others could form little balls of their elements on their palms already. He scratched his head, “I’ve almost figured out how to make a wind ball, but it’s really hard trying to figure it out by myself!” Kakashi felt a brief stab of guilt that he pushed away. _I should probably teach them more from now on. But it’s amazing that Naruto was able to come this far by himself! And it sounds like he’s already on his way to recreating his father’s technique all by himself._

“No, today we will be climbing trees!” Kakashi announced.

“Tree climbing?!” the genin shouted out.

“How will climbing a tree help us?” Sasuke wondered aloud.

“Yeah! We already know how to climb trees!” Sakura chimed in.

“…Do you mean climbing trees with only our feet?” Naruto asked tentatively.

“Oh? You know about this exercise?” Kakashi asked before remembering his fight with Zabuza. “That’s right, I saw that you were able to walk on water…” he mumbled and then snapped back to the genin. “In that case, why don’t you demonstrate for us, Naruto? Since you already know how to do it,” he eye-smiled at Naruto and gestured to the tree in front of him. This way he could see how efficient Naruto was at using chakra and if he needed any corrections in his technique.

“Alright, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto blushed and placed a foot on the tree.

Sakura wondered what this ‘tree-walking’ was. _How can you climb a tree with no hands? And why does Naruto already know how to do this?_ She watched Naruto place a foot on the tree. _Is he going to kick off the tree or something? Or maybe use a hook to swing up?_ Her jaw dropped open as she saw Naruto walk up the tree horizontally as if it was the floor and there was no gravity acting upon him. _How is he doing that? Is it a ninjutsu! Wait, sensei said this was a chakra exercise. Is he using chakra to stick to the tree? But then he’d have to constantly output the exact amount needed to hold his body up like that!_ She was shocked. If she remembered correctly, then Naruto used to be the dead-last in chakra control. He couldn’t even make an ordinary Bunshin or any genjutsu! How was he using chakra so effortlessly now?

Sasuke didn’t know what to think. The ‘Dobe’, the ‘dead-last’ of the academy, already knew and was training his chakra affinity and was also able to climb trees with a special technique. So many questions were running though his head: _Why does he know this? How does he know this? Who taught it to him?_ But the most prominent question in his head was: _Why don’t I know how to do this too?_ He was unused to the idea of Naruto being better than him at something. He knew that Naruto was stronger now than back at the academy, but how was he this strong already? _He already knew about barrier seals back then and he also has his Shadow Clone technique that jounin use. And now he even has that advanced healing factor, while I haven’t even activated my Sharingan!_ Why did it seem like everyone but him was improving after the academy? _Even Sakura could punch and take down that Mizu Bunshin while I was just smashed into a tree!_ He gritted his teeth together.

Once Naruto reached the top of the tree, he supplied a little less chakra to slide down the trunk and land next to Sasuke. “Was that good enough, Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto asked hesitantly. He was a little nervous being picked to demonstrate a skill. Usually when teachers at the academy asked him to do something, they were punishing him for not paying attention or trying to humiliate him as they knew he couldn’t do the exercise. It felt a little weird to be picked to display something he could actually do.

“Yes, good job, Naruto!” Kakashi said and Naruto beamed at him with his cheeks still slightly flushed. His teammates couldn’t help but blink at the sight of a blushing Naruto. It was just so different from the usual loud-mouth klutz image they held in their heads of him. Kakashi coughed once to get Sasuke’s and Sakura’s attention back on him and away from the blushing blonde. “As Naruto demonstrated earlier, tree walking is when you use chakra to stick to the tree. And before you say it’s a useless technique, it actually helps with chakra control. Right now, you know how to use chakra and how to do a few techniques, but you don’t know the exact amount of chakra needed for those techniques and end up overpowering or underpowering the jutsu. If you master tree walking and the later exercise water walking, then you’ll be able to use chakra more efficiently and be able to do way more jutsu before running out of chakra.” Kakashi stopped talking and took note of his students. All three genin looked eager to begin training.

“Ok, why don’t you try first, Sakura? I have a feeling you’ll be able to do it,” Kakashi prompted.

“Okay,” Sakura gulped and first tested out her foot against the bark. She noticed how too little chakra made her slip, while too much repelled her. _Ok, so if I use this much chakra it should work._ She took a deep breath in and then opened her eyes. She shot forward and ran up the tree. With each step she took, she got higher and higher up the tree. _I’m doing it! I’m really doing it!_ She was thrilled as she felt the breeze lightly play around with her hair. She swiftly moved up the tree and reached the fifth branch from the bottom. “I don’t think I can get much further...” she called out and breathed heavily on the branch.

“Wow Sakura! That was so cool! You flew up there like you already knew how to do it!” Naruto said in awe.

“That was good work for your first try, Sakura!” Kakashi called out. Sasuke didn’t say anything, eager for his turn.

“Thanks guys!” Sakura panted heavily from where she was.

“Okay, Sasuke, why don’t you give it a try,” Kakashi said.

“Hnn,” Sasuke answered and immediately ran at the tree. He took five steps before he was forced to jump off. Footprints were embedded in the tree at his highest point.

“Looks like you used too much chakra there,” Kakashi commented, eying the splintered wood. Sasuke didn’t answer. He was surprised that he couldn’t do something that even Sakura and Naruto could do. For the first time since being compared to Itachi, he also felt shame in his abilities as a ninja. “Not too bad for your first time. Usually, people with more chakra find it harder to control,” Kakashi spoke up.

Naruto nodded unconsciously. He remembered how many hours it had taken to go up to the first branch. Even when he used 500 shadow clones to help him practice, he still only made small improvements. The only reason he was able to get so far today was through sheer hard work, determination, and perseverance.

Sasuke lightened up a little after he heard Kakashi say this. _So, the only reason I’m having so much trouble is because I have more chakra than Sakura and the Do… and Naruto._ He was unwilling to call Naruto a Dobe in his mind. He had noticed firsthand how much Naruto had improved, and knew that he wasn’t the empty-headed muscle-head he appeared to be in the academy. He calmed down and threw himself at the tree once more, happily noting he got higher on the tree this time. _Nice, soon I’ll catch up to those two. I was only having trouble at first because I had larger reserves than them._ Sasuke mistakenly concluded he had a lot more chakra than Naruto, mollifying him and allowing him to soothe his fragile ego.

As the two continued their exercises, Kakashi spoke to Naruto. “Okay, since you already know both tree and water walking, we’ll work on your chakra affinity instead. I want you to make how many ever clones you usually use for training and to scatter them across the river. They should all try to split the river in half by using wind release,” he commanded.

“Roger!” Naruto saluted and did what Kakashi told him to.

“The original you should go and protect Tazuna. Take 15 shadow clones with you to keep watch. Maybe you can practice your seals and strengthen the bridge,” Kakashi suggested after all 500 clones left.

“Alright!” Naruto easily agreed and took off for the bridge with his 15-man clone brigade closely following him.

Kakashi watched Naruto disappear into the distance and headed back to his other genin. _They’re working hard._ He observed. _But it seems that Sasuke thinks that Naruto has less chakra than him._ He chuckled, easily seeing through Sasuke’s thoughts. _It’s more like Naruto has at least four times as much as I do, while Sasuke doesn’t even have a third as much as me…_ He rubbed his hands together and his eyes glinted slightly. _Now the real question is, should I tell him and shred his already failing ego or should I allow him to think he has more chakra than Naruto? You’d think he’d already have noticed by now, with the way Naruto throws around shadow clones as if they were normal cannon fodder…_ Kakashi smiled eerily again, scaring Sasuke and Sakura who had stopped for a small break. _What’s wrong with sensei today?_ They both thought. _He’s weirder than usual…_ They silently went back to their exercises unwilling to have Kakashi’s attention on them. Kakashi noticed his genin avoiding him and pouted.

* * *

Day #3: On the Bridge

“…and just add two more seals over there. Then we should have the whole bridge covered,” Naruto directed his clones.

“Thanks for the help kid!” Tazuna looked up from the blueprints and thanked Naruto.

“No problem, old man!” Naruto chirped back happily.

“I still don’t get why we have to build the bridge…” Inari grumbled. He had taken to Naruto ever since their conversation on their first day there. He sneakily tried watching Naruto on the second day, but Naruto’s clones easily noticed him and ushered him over to join them. Now, Naruto was teaching him how to paint small durability seals to cover the bridge. Although they needed to be activated with chakra, with the stencil Naruto made, Inari could easily ink them onto the bridge with no problem.

“Because if we don’t connect the lands together, then Gato will continue taking advantage of us,” Tazuna reminded Inari.

“But why do we have to risk our lives,” he whined thinking about the other workers that quit every day.

“Because if we aren’t willing to work and take a risk, how can we expect anything to change?” Naruto asked, repeating one of Iruka-sensei’s favorite sayings about homework.

“Wow, you’re so cool, Boss!” Inari’s eyes sparkled as Tazuna moped in the corner.

“My grandson doesn’t think I’m cool...” he muttered dejectedly.

“Hahaha, thanks!” Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head. Inari had copied the way his shadow clones addressed him. It seemed like he was picking up a bunch of younger minions that all called him ‘Boss’. First Konohamaru and now Inari. Who next? Konohamaru’s friends? He shook his head and noticed some shapes approaching. He tensed up and then relaxed when he realized it was the rest of his teammates.

“Inari, why don’t you let your mother know that we’re almost done. Take one of the kid’s doubles with you,” Tazuna called out. He had to go into town today for some groceries before he could go home, but he didn’t want Inari to be out in town so late.

“Okay,” Inari pouted but went back nevertheless.

“Hey guys! How was training?” Naruto asked.

“Not bad,” Sakura shrugged. “I stayed on the branch upside down for 25 minutes today which is way better than the 5 minutes I could do before and Sasuke finally reached the half-way point too. What about you?” she asked curious.

“I improved too! I finally split the river a few inches deep today. Soon I’ll be able to split it in half!” he boasted.

“That’s great, Naruto,” Sakura praised sullenly. Although she had excellent chakra control, her stamina still sucked. Seeing her teammate advancing so far and leaving her in the dust really left a bitter taste in her mouth. Naruto beamed his bright smile at her, making most of her resentment fade.

“We’re going into town today?” Naruto asked Tazuna.

“Yup, need to bring some meat home today. We’re running low on food with all of you here,” Tazuna said and led them into town. “Be careful in town, you guys look like easy targets,” he warned them before walking into a shop with Kakashi closely following him.

Team 7 looked around. The village was spiritless. _Why are they like this?_ Sakura wondered seeing how solemn everyone was. She noticed people walking around with signs saying they’d work for food. The different environment gave her a cultural shock. Wave was way different when compared to Konoha. _And no one looks happy here either..._

Naruto was having a sense of Deja-vu as he noticed a small group of children huddled around a trash can, digging through it for any edible remains.

_“Look, it’s the demon brat!” a villager pointed out._

_“He’s digging through the trash like a savage,” an elderly lady sniffed as she turned away from Naruto._

_“Shoo! Shoo!” the owner of the house came out and brandished his broom at Naruto. “We don’t want any vermin around our house.”_

_“Ya know what ya gotta do ta keep pests like it away?” a man wearing ragged clothing next doors put in._

_“Yeah?” a younger villager asked._

_“Ya hav ta put pest poison on the trash. It keeps away little critters like it from raidin’ your trash. Makes ‘em sick, and they don’t come back for a long while. If you’re lucky enough, they never come back because the poison kills ‘em!” he laughed loudly, revealing his rotted tar-covered teeth. The villagers around him joined in until Naruto could only hear the sound of ugly laughter echoing around everywhere…_

He jolted out of his flashback as Sasuke grabbed him. “Usuratonkachi, are you…” Sasuke didn’t finish. He couldn’t quite get the word ‘okay’ out as it’d be showing concern and he couldn’t care for his teammates. He wouldn’t. Especially not if what Itachi said was true. It’s better for him to be alone anyways. He didn’t have time for friends. Without him noticing, his grip tightened on Naruto’s shoulder. The blond patted Sasuke’s hand, mistaking the squeezing as an attempt at comforting him.

“I’m alright. Just remembered something…” Naruto trailed off slightly, avoiding looking at the orphans any longer. Sasuke wanted to question him. _What memories could make him that pale? He looked distressed…_ But he restrained himself, repeating over and over in his head that he shouldn’t and didn’t care about what bothered Naruto.

Sakura browsed the stalls. _There’s hardly anything left to buy here…_ She absently noted. She spun around to see if Tazuna was done yet, when she felt a hand brush along her backside. “Kyaaaaaa!!! A pervert!” Sakura screamed and smashed her heel on the offender.

“…No ‘m not a perv’rt…” the baggy shirted man slurred as he collapsed onto the ground.

“He was trying to pickpocket you…” Tazuna sweat-dropped as he saw what had happened.

“Nice heel kick Sakura!” Kakashi gave her a thumbs-up and ruffled her hair.

“Not the hair, Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura pouted. Sasuke and Naruto both inched away from the fallen man on the floor. “Why’s everyone in this town like this?” Sakura asked Tazuna who sighed.

“Ever since Gato came, the townspeople have given up. His mercenaries threaten or dispose of anyone who goes up against him. Everyone’s lost hope that we’ll never be free from under Gato’s rule. That’s why I’m building the bridge, as a sign of new hope!” Tazuna stood up straight, proudly.

“Wow, old man, you almost sounded cool!” Naruto destroyed Tazuna’s moment.

“Brat!” Tazuna scolded fondly. “Well, once that bridge is done, everyone will go back to how they were before. Happy, free, full of joy and hope!” _Soon, it’ll be done, Kaiza, and our beloved village will be back the way it once was._ Team 7 was silent the rest of the way back. They each had their own thoughts about the town, but they all had one thing in common, and that was the drive to try even harder in their training to defeat Zabuza and save the town from Gato!

* * *

Later that night, Naruto was having trouble sleeping. Seeing those street kids really brought back childhood memories… And none of the good ones either. He glanced at the clock and saw it was 4 am. _So, I’ve been staring at the ceiling for three hours? Maybe I should just go keep watch and switch out with whoever has it tonight…_

He got up slowly to not disturb anyone in the house and crept towards the front door. On his way there, he passed Inari’s room, where he noticed the younger boy had kicked off his blanket. Sneaking in, he tucked Inari in and smiled melancholily as he noticed the boy hugging a picture of his father to his chest. _I wish I had a picture of my parents… Or even just their names…_ He walked silently towards the front of the house and cracked the door open. On the porch, he could make out a figure sitting against the tree cross legged. “Yo, Sasuke, you awake?” he asked quietly.

Sasuke opened one eye and acknowledged his teammate, “Naruto… Not sleeping?”

“Nah! I’m too keyed up, if you know what I mean,” Naruto answered back, not really knowing what he was saying but saying it anyways. Sasuke snorted at him. “Shut up!” Naruto murmured quietly. “Budge over, lemme join you,” he lazily ordered. Sasuke watched on, amused, as Naruto tried in vain to get him to move. “Te-me,” Naruto whined and Sasuke smirked before shifting to make room for Naruto. “Say,” Naruto licked his lips nervously, having never voiced this worry out loud before. “Do you believe in aliens?”

Sasuke was puzzled at why Naruto was asking him but answered anyways, “Don’t know, don’t care…” He wanted to remain indifferent to Naruto’s plight, but he had to ask, “Why?”

“I had this weird dream where Hinata and I were on the moon fighting off these aliens. And I was Hokage but I left you to protect Konoha for me because I trust you.” Sasuke willed himself to not react to those words. He knew his teammates relied on him, but to actually hear Naruto say he trusted him? _Why do they believe in me?_ Naruto continued his tale, “And I almost died, but Sakura healed me…” Sasuke stiffened up reflexively at the thought of Naruto near death. _Damn. Damnit! I actually care about him, about this team. I’m not supposed to be close to them… They’ll hold me back from my revenge._ He unconvincingly denied his feelings. “…But it all worked out in the end, and,” here Naruto blushed. “And, Hinata and I got married.” Sasuke’s gut churned at the thought of Naruto getting married. It just felt too strange to imagine the blonde as an adult at his own wedding. _But, still… I’m impressed that Naruto’s subconscious can actually tell that Hinata likes him._ “After that, the large toad from the other dream came in and croaked that this path is forever sealed due to the ripples in the time stream caused by a nosy black-haired pineapple-lover…”

Sasuke couldn’t speak for a moment. _What am I supposed to say to that? To go visit the nin-psychiatrist?_ He thought sarcastically. _But then again… They don’t really help._ He remembered the disastrous sessions he was forced to go to after Itachi… _Not thinking about that today._ He cut off the trailing thought and saw Naruto staring at him expectantly. “That… was oddly specific.”

“Yeah, and that wasn’t even the weirdest dream I’ve had lately,” Naruto pouted remembering the one dream where a creepy snake pedophile gave Sasuke a hickey in the forest. “Sasuke,” he said seriously. “Don’t ever follow strange men with long hair and tongues into the forest, okay?”

Sasuke had a tick-mark on his face but swallowed down his reply when he saw Naruto was being serious. “Okay,” he reluctantly grunted. _What does that even have to do with the moon aliens! Where does he come up with these things?_ He thought in disbelief. _And why was he… Was he dreaming about me?_ Sasuke slightly blushed at this thought, though he didn’t know why he suddenly felt embarrassed. _And I was in the woods with another man doing things?_

Naruto sighed in relief and leaned against the tree a bit more, slightly slipping onto Sasuke’s shoulder. The blonde hair brushed against Sasuke’s neck ticklishly, but Sasuke put up with it when he saw Naruto’s satisfied expression. He was taken aback when he heard Naruto’s next question. “Who do you want to kill?”

“I want, no, I need to kill my older brother to avenge my clan,” Sasuke spoke solemnly.

“What did he do to your clan?” Naruto asked. Sasuke was surprised that Naruto didn’t already know.

“He massacred my clan. I saw him kill my parents right in front of me!” Sasuke’s usually stoic voice rose near the end.

“…Did he hate your clan or something?” Naruto asked dumbfounded that someone could just kill off their whole family.

“No, in fact he loved my clan. He was a prodigy and everyone respected him. That’s why I have to train harder to surpass him and be strong enough to kill him,” Sasuke spoke determinedly.

“But if he didn’t hate your clan, and loved them and was super smart, then why did he kill them all?” Naruto asked, still hung up on that part.

“He said that he wanted to test himself. And that he left me alive as a challenge to his strength.”

“That makes no sense,” Naruto deadpanned. “If he wanted to challenge himself why would he bother killing the kids in your clan? And why would he keep you alive as a challenge? I mean, no offense, but you were a kid… Wouldn’t it make more sense to let your parents live?” Sasuke sighed. The reason behind Itachi’s sudden betrayal didn’t really make any sense. It had always nagged at him, but he always ignored it, unwilling to sympathize with his brother.

“I think his exact words were: ‘Cling to a pitiful life, my foolish little brother, and try to kill me!’ Or something like that,” Sasuke tried to imitate Itachi’s voice.

“Right… And you’re just going to follow what he told you to do?” Naruto asked skeptically.

“He also told me that the only way I can perfect my Sharingan is by killing my best friend…”

“Wow, thanks for the heads up! Now if you ever try to kill me, I at least know why,” Naruto joked.

“Yeah, you’ll for sure be the first one to know,” Sasuke answered dryly.

“Hey you didn’t deny it! I am sooo your best friend!” Naruto crowed. Sasuke’s cheeks reddened. He wanted to deny it, but was unable to. It was the truth after all. Out of all the people their age, he was the closest to the blonde. Naruto finished cheering and sobered up, “Did he look guilty when he killed them? Your parents I mean? You know, because he loved them?” Naruto asked wondering how someone could kill their parents when he spent all his life wondering whom his were.

“No, he looked cold, as if it was another mission,” Sasuke recalled. “But, now that you mention it, I think he was crying at the end when I caught up to him, right before he trapped me in a genjutsu…”

“Maybe it was a mission,” Naruto mused aloud. He remembered that back when the Uchiha clan was still alive, people would stare at them with the same looks they gave him. It made sense to him that someone might have wanted to get rid of the Uchiha clan. “Maybe someone framed your clan for something really big and then ordered Itachi to kill everyone,” Naruto suggested.

“Yeah, and they did it because they wanted to harvest the Sharingan from all the corpses,” Sasuke sarcastically retorted. “Yeah, right! As if that would happen! This isn’t one of your dreams, Naruto, this is real life. Maybe my brother just went crazy from all the pressure of being a child prodigy and he snapped and killed everyone…” Sasuke shifted, getting more comfortable under the tree.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Naruto pouted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his… _friend._ “When we go back to Konoha, we’ll dig up a grave as proof, alright?” Naruto nodded, surprised that Sasuke would humor him to the extent of actually digging up one of his dead relative’s graves. “I need to dig up the weeds at the graves anyways, so I’ll probably accidentally unearth a few anyways,” he clarified. “Some of the roots are stubborn and go down very deep.”

“I’ll help,” Naruto offered and Sasuke accepted by nodding his head at the blonde.

“Actually, the more I talk about this with you, the more I believe my brother needs mental help... Maybe instead of killing him, I should hand him over to the psychologists. They’re way worse than the torturers from T&I.”

“Or you could make him wear chakra-suppressing seals inscribed on neon pink leg and arm warmers and force him to take D-ranks as atonement. For revenge, you could only give him catching Tora missions and make him wear striped spandex,” Naruto suggested cheekily and was pleasantly surprised when Sasuke burst out laughing.

He wanted to stop, but that image… Itachi in a full-on bright neon pink body suit with striped green arm and leg warmers, trying to catch Tora with no chakra while fan-girls stalked him… It was just too funny!

Naruto enjoyed Sasuke’s laughter and snuggled up against the tree. _So, this is how it feels to have teammates that actually like you and want to get along…_ He thought as he felt warm on the inside and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Sasuke stopped chuckling and relaxed as he noticed Naruto slinking into slumber. He fondly caressed Naruto’s hair and found his eyes closing as well.

The next morning, two boys could be seen deep asleep underneath the tree. One had jet black hair, while the other had bright blonde hair. The darker haired one was tucked into the blonde one’s side, and they both had a purple blanket wrapped around them.

 _My genin are so cute~!_ Kakashi thought as he made sure Naruto and Sasuke were covered fully. The white haired jounin continued keeping watch over the two genin secretly until they woke up the next morning. Both genin, when they woke up, were confused about where the blanket came from. They never knew it was thanks to their silver-haired sensei watching over them.

* * *

Day #7: In the Forest

Over the next few days, Team 7’s battle power dramatically increased. Sasuke and Sakura had finally mastered tree walking and were now working on water walking on the stream, while Naruto was able to make a six-inch deep cut in the stream relying only on the use of his wind element. Kakashi had also made his genin run through multiple mock battle scenarios and formations to not catch them off guard. After one such training, the genin were wiped out and resting in a clearing in the woods.

Naruto stood up and stretched his back out, cracking it. “I think I’m going to walk around a bit to stretch my legs. Be back in a bit!” he yelled over to his team. Sasuke waved his hand at Naruto and Sakura just grunted. Kakashi looked up over his beloved orange book and gave Naruto a thumbs-up. Naruto wandered deeper into the woods and came across a small clearing. He saw someone picking herbs in the meadow and walked in their direction. “Hello,” he called out. The figure stilled and turned to look at Naruto.

“Oh, hello ninja-san,” the androgynous villager greeted Naruto and placed their basket of herbs in their lap. “I’m just picking some herbs. Do you need anything?” they asked Naruto.

“Nope, just wondering if you need any help,” Naruto spoke up and crouched near them. “I just finished training and I was a little bored. My name’s Naruto, by the way.”

“You may call me Haku,” Haku smiled at Naruto. They both bended down and plucked a few more herbs.

“What do you need these herbs for anyways?” Naruto asked and held up one in front of his face, squinting at it.

“My friend got sick. These herbs are going to help cure him,” Haku gently said and moved to the side to gather more of them. “Why are you training so hard for, Naruto?”

“I’m training really hard because I want to get stronger!” Naruto puffed his chest out at these words.

“Why are you trying to get stronger?” Haku asked again.

“I want to become the Hokage, the strongest man in the village. That way I can protect all my friends and family and they won’t get hurt in front of me as long as I’m there,” Naruto proclaimed remembering how Iruka-sensei almost died for him when they fought Mizuki.

“So, you want to protect your precious people? I think, that only when you are fighting to protect someone, you truly become strong,” Haku concluded.

“Yeah! I know that very well!” Naruto agreed.

“I think you will become very strong,” Haku said and stood up.

“Oh, you’re leaving already?” Naruto asked moving closer to Haku.

“Yes, I must get going soon,” Haku brushed off some dirt from his robe.

“Can I ask you something?” Naruto spoke up.

“Yes?”

“Is Zabuza your precious person?”

Haku stopped moving. “So, you know?”

“Yes,” Naruto agreed.

“What will you do? Call out to your comrades?” Haku wondered.

“No, they won’t reach in time anyways.”

“Will you try to catch me, yourself?” Haku turned around to stare at Naruto.

“No,” Naruto looked up into Haku’s surprised eyes. “I don’t think you are a bad person.” Haku didn’t respond. “But, what you’re doing, helping Gato, it’s wrong…”

“I know. But for that man, I’m willing to give even my life up. He was my only light in the darkness. He saved me from dying on the streets unwanted and alone. He gave me a home.”

Naruto breathed in. “I know how that feels, being so alone you just want to die and then having someone come along and take you away from that loneliness. About wanting to do anything for your savior.” He thought of Iruka-sensei and the Hokage. “But sometimes, when you care for someone, that means you have to be able to tell them when they are wrong.” He thought of Sasuke and his obsession for revenge. “You have to be able to steer them off the wrong path when they take a wrong turn, even if they resent you for it,” Naruto quoted what the Hokage told him was hard about his position.

After a silence, Haku’s voice came out again, “I’ll think on your words. They are very wise for someone your age.” He praised the blonde.

“Thanks, but I was just copying my Jiji,” Naruto explained. Haku smiled.

“It was nice meeting you Naruto. If we had met another time, I think we could’ve become great friends,” Haku replied.

“It was nice meeting you too, Haku, and we are friends. Just on different paths.” They both looked at each other one last time before turning around and leaving the clearing for good.

Naruto walked back to where his teammates were and waved at them. “Had a nice walk, Naruto?” Sakura asked.

“Yep!” Naruto answered. “I learned a lot of things!”

“Oh?” Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Naruto while his other two teammates wondered what actually could Naruto learn when he roamed around in the forest.

“Are you almost better, Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto asked.

“Yeah, I should be back to normal tomorrow morning,” Kakashi answered feeling happy that one of his genin cared enough about him to ask.

“Oh, that’s good! I think Zabuza is going to attack the bridge tomorrow with his friend Haku,” Naruto said relaxed.

“What? How do you know?” Sakura asked in disbelief as Sasuke looked sharply at Naruto wondering what had actually happened in the forest just now.

“I was in the woods when I met Haku,” Naruto said and elaborated when he noticed that everyone looked confused. “Oh, right, you don’t know who Haku is! He was the Hunter-nin and he also impersonated the Mizu Bunshin for some time. He had the same presence as both of them… Anyways, he was picking up a few herbs in the forest for Zabuza and since Sakura said the only good herbs in the forest were to improve your stamina for a day, it makes sense that they’re going to attack tomorrow,” Naruto concluded as the rest of Team 7’s jaws dropped wide open.

Kakashi recovered first. “Okay, that means we need to rest up earlier today. Let’s stop training for today and head back to Tazuna’s place.” _That was close! I’m glad nothing happened to Naruto… Next time, I’m definitely sending a shadow clone with him!_

Three voices answered back at the same time: “Okay, Sensei!” “Kay, Kakashi-sensei!” “Hnn!” Kakashi just eye-smiled at his genin and led the way back.

* * *

The next day, Team 7 was sitting at the table in tension as they watched Kakashi leisurely fill his bowl with milk and eat his cereal. “Wow Tsunami-san, this cereal is really good. Did you add something different to it?”

“My, Kakashi-sensei! You sure know how to make a lady blush! You’re, right. I added some home-made dried fruit to the mix for a sweet and sour flavor.

“I think I’ll have to take some of this with me back to Konoha,” Kakashi laughed.

“Oh, you tease,” Tsunami slapped his back and laughed with him. Naruto just glared at his sensei’s mask. He had been watching non-stop since Kakashi had begun eating and even though the food was steadily decreasing, he still had yet to see Kakashi-sensei’s face.

Tazuna entered the room with an unopened bottle of alcohol. “If what you say is true, I’m going to need to be drunk while we confront Zabuza,” Tazuna piped up as he screwed off the lid and took a swig.

“There, there Tazuna. It’s going to be alright,” Kakashi rubbed the bridge builder’s back soothingly. Tazuna just shivered, drinking more of his alcohol.

“Why are we still here, sensei?” Sakura asked as she double-checked her medical kit once more.

“We’re waiting for our guests to arrive.” A scuffling was heard as the door swung open. “Oh, there they are right now. Come on students, let’s go and _welcome_ them in,” his eyes glinted maliciously. Tazuna paled as he heard the screams coming from the living room.

“What do you think he’s doing to them?” Inari asked, morbidly fascinated.

“Don’t know and don’t ever want to find out,” Tazuna hurriedly answered as a head of silver-hair popped back into the kitchen.

“The coast is clear. No one will be bothering you guys anymore, but I left a shadow clone of me as insurance,” Kakashi told Tsunami. “Come on, Tazuna! Let’s go to the bridge right now!”

“If I die, I want it to be known that a man wearing a mask with white hair was the one who killed me,” Tazuna whispered to Inari before Kakashi pulled him along.

“Tazuna, already blaming me for your death? You better be careful, someone might think you don’t like me, your savior,” Kakashi spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice.

“Ahahaha,” Tazuna nervously laughed. “No need to take it seriously, it was just a joke! A joke!” he repeated twice and held up his hands to surrender.

“Hmmm… I think I need to carry you just in case of any danger, don’t you agree?”

“No, I’m fine,” Tazuna hurriedly declined but was once again hoisted up over Kakashi’s shoulder like a sack of unwashed laundry. The genin didn’t even pay attention to this interaction, already used to their sensei’s eccentricities.

* * *

Meanwhile, Haku stood on the bridge as Zabuza paced back and forth. “Why aren’t they here yet?” Zabuza murmured. “Aren’t the bad guys usually supposed to be late? Why are _we_ the early ones this time around?” He muttered as Haku pretended that Zabuza wasn’t talking to himself. Haku’s head snapped up suddenly, as he noticed a dark shadow moving closer to them in the fog.

“Wind slash!” a voice called out, and the fog cleared apart as if someone took a butter knife and split it in half. Team 7 stood out in the distance, with Tazuna drunkenly stumbling behind them, already in a protective seal barrier.

“So, you’re alive…” Kakashi said.

“Yes, and it seems like you already knew that,” Zabuza said and redid his jutsu for fog once more.

“Wind slash!” Naruto called out again and blew away the wind.

“That’s a nice trick, brat! But can you keep doing it even when I attack?” Zabuza made a sign and sent a horde of Mizu Bunshin at Team 7 and then quickly redid his fog jutsu. _Take that, brat! No way you can fight them off and get rid of the fog at the same time!_

Naruto raised his hand up, ignoring the clones around him, and shouted out “Wind slash!” again to banish the fog. As his hands were busy he was unable to stop the clones’ attacks from reaching him. The blade got closer…closer…until it was only a hair’s breath away from Naruto when suddenly the Bunshin all burst into water.

“What?” Zabuza uttered in shock.

“Great slashing, Sasuke!” Kakashi complimented Sasuke’s weapon skills.

“Humph, it was nothing,” Sasuke rubbed his nose and blushed lightly.

“So, you’ve learned a few new tricks. Well, it’s still not going to be enough to stop me and Haku! I’m jounin level and Haku has long since surpassed me. There’s no way a team of three genin and a jounin-sensei can take us both on,” Zabuza boasted.

“You’re going down cow-pervert!” Sakura shouted, causing Zabuza to choke and Haku to blush. Sasuke took advantage of their distraction and launched a hail of shuriken at the pair. Kakashi also took this moment to send a lightning dragon at Zabuza. Haku made a few hand signs and a wall of ice rose up to block Sasuke’s attack while Zabuza sent an earth dragon to meet with Kakashi’s, rendering it useless. Naruto and Sakura hung back, waiting for an opportune moment to attack.

Zabuza let out a whistle. “Think you can handle the kids, Haku?”

“I’ll do my best, Zabuza-sama,” Haku serenely replied.

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you. I’ve got a one-eyed bastard to take revenge on!” After he replied he launched a water dragon at Kakashi and separated from Haku. Kakashi easily batted the water dragon out of the sky with one of his own and followed Zabuza to the other side of the bridge. Sasuke took off after his sensei, but Haku blocked him.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you past,” Haku spoke up and created a wall of ice behind him.

“I just have to defeat you!” Sasuke retorted. “Stay out of it, I can handle this by myself,” he told Sakura and Naruto. The two looked at each other and then stepped forward, ignoring what Sasuke said. “I thought I told you to stay out of it!”

“We know you can probably handle it yourself, but…” Sakura began as she sidled up to Sasuke.

“But, we’re a team! So, we should kick his ass together!” Naruto ended and pumped his fist in the air.

“Naruto, it’s nice to see you again. I wish the circumstances were better though,” Haku acknowledged Naruto.

“You know what you’re doing is wrong,” Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. “Why are you helping Gato?” Sakura looked back and forth between Haku and Naruto trying to figure out their relationship, while Sasuke carefully listened to their conversation.

“Please don’t hate me. I do not want to fight, but I will for my precious person. To work for them, fight for them, to make their dreams come true… I will do anything for him,” Haku spoke. “Even if I have to kill my heart, I will, so please, don’t get in my way!”

“We have things we must protect too!” Naruto yelled.

“For Tazuna, his family, and the other hungry orphans!” Sakura backed him up.

“To take down Gato and free Wave!” Sasuke added.

“We will defeat you because we’re… Team 7!” they all spoke in unison, their feelings matching at that moment.

“So be it,” Haku said and lowered his mask. He launched icicles at them, making sure to only aim at non-fatal locations, though the genin didn’t know that. The three of them ducked to avoid the icicles.

“Man, Haku’s fast!” Naruto complained as he jumped to the side to avoid impalement.

“Yeah! We need to make a plan!” Sakura spoke up as she flung another kunai at Haku.

“I’ll go distract him, while you two think up a plan,” Sasuke didn’t look back and tackled Haku. They both went tumbling to the ground and staggered up. Sasuke closed in on Haku and punched at his head. Haku twisted out of the way and hooked his foot onto Sasuke’s ankle, tripping him up. While Sasuke scrambled up off the floor, Haku put his hands together and enclosed them in a dome of mirrors.

“Damnit! He’s trapped!” Naruto hissed to Sakura who grabbed his collar to stop him from running in to help Sasuke. “Let me go!”

“You can’t go in without a plan!” she said firmly as Naruto stopped struggling.

“Okay, but what should we do now?” Naruto asked as he chucked a kunai at the ice wall. It just bounced off, not even leaving a scratch behind.

“Hmmm…” Sakura thought aloud. “I think, I have a plan!” She grabbed onto Naruto’s hands and stared determinedly into his blue eyes. “What else can you do with seals?” she asked fervently.

“Well, I can…”

* * *

While the two plotted, Sasuke was trapped inside the mirrors. He experimentally tried to punch a mirror, but nothing happened. Even when he tried to stab at a mirror, he couldn’t even dent it. Growing frustrated, Sasuke shot a fireball at the mirrors, only to have nothing happen again! “This level of fire, can’t destroy my mirrors,” Haku said from within one. Sasuke spun around to see Haku disappeared. A voice came from the left, “With my mirrors, I can teleport anywhere. It’s as if you’re moving in slow motion to me.”

Sasuke gritted his teeth and shot a kunai at the last place he saw Haku. He dodged as senbon rained down on him and sent another hail of shuriken in vain. _He’s too fast, I need to predict where he’s going to hit him!_ Sasuke took a deep breath and started tracking Haku with his eyes. _Closer… Closer… I can see him, but it’s a little off… Just a little more…There!_ He aimed at the right and tore a piece of Haku’s clothing.

“So, you can see me? But that’s not good enough!” Haku then accelerated. Sasuke tried to follow, but Haku was too fast! _Calm down! Concentrate…_ He took a deep breath in and opened his eyes. _Concentrate and… There!_ He spun around and kicked Haku out of the mirror. Haku stared up at Sasuke in shock. “Your eyes… You have the Sharingan too?” _What?_ Sasuke stopped and looked into the mirror and saw two tomoe in each eye. _It activated!_ Haku took advantage of Sasuke’s distraction and stealthily encased Sasuke’s feet in hard ice. “My jutsu uses chakra to speed up and if you can see me now, that means you will catch me sooner or later. It’s time to end this!” _Damnit!_ Sasuke thought. _I can’t get free! It’s over…_ He watched as the senbon got closer to him. Just as it was about to hit, there was a large BOOM! Sasuke watched in disbelief as a pink haired girl smashed her way through the ice and caught the senbon and crushed them into sparkling smithereens. _Is that Sakura?_

She smiled at Sasuke, but frowned when she noticed the scratches littering his body and glared at Haku, “No one hurts my teammates and gets away with it!” She stomped once, sending a vibration through the ground, destroying the ice around Sasuke’s feet. Sakura then pounced on Haku and tried to pound him to the ground, but he dodged.

Sasuke watched Sakura fight Haku as if she was playing a game of Whack-a-mole, while Haku just skillfully danced around her attacks. He couldn’t hold back his thoughts anymore, “…the hell?”

“Are you surprised?” a voice startled Sasuke into putting up his guard. He relaxed when he noticed the familiar blonde hair next to him. “I helped augment Sakura’s strength with my seals!” Naruto chirped. Sasuke nodded and studied the younger boy. He saw how Naruto was slightly slouched over and breathing heavily as if he used a lot of chakra.

“Nice work,” Sasuke quietly complimented Naruto who grinned at him.

“It was nothing,” he bashfully scratched the back of his head with reddened cheeks. The two boys watched as Sakura finally got a hit in on Haku who had slowed down greatly after fighting all this time. Before he Haku could get up, she pinned him to the ground and placed a kunai at his neck.

“Okay,” Naruto murmured. “It’s my part of the plan now.” He ran forward and drew out of a bundle of paper. He placed a brush in his mouth and put his hands together making a few hand signs and then pushed in the direction Sakura and Haku were in. “Sakura! Move!”

Sakura looked back and noticed Naruto pointing at them. She dropped the kunai and rolled out of the way. Haku didn’t understand why she moved and tried to stand up, but it was too late! Five white chains extended out from the bundle Naruto was holding and wrapped around Haku, neatly tying him up. “You can’t get out of these chakra-suppressing chains so easily,” Naruto spoke proudly.

“It looks like you have won,” Haku noted. He saw no way of escaping. “Do it then. Kill me.” He smiled sadly at Naruto.

Sasuke and Sakura looked a Haku in confusion. Naruto only asked, “Is it… the only way?”

“Yes,” Haku closed his eyes, waiting for his eventual death. Naruto’s other two teammates watched in mounting alarm as he strode forward with a kunai and- “Ouch!” Haku opened his eyes in confusion wondering why Naruto had just hit his head with the back of his kunai.

“There’s no way I’m going to kill my friends, dummy! As if I could’ve killed you!” he retorted as his two teammates fell over. _Don’t act so dramatically then!_ They mentally snapped.

“Then what are you going to do now?” Haku asked in bewilderment, still getting used to the fact he was still alive.

Naruto rubbed his nose. “Well, I guess we should go meet up with Kakashi-sensei…” Team 7 got up and dragged Haku behind them as they headed in the direction of where they last saw Kakashi.

* * *

Kakashi had just about enough of this fight so far. He maintained his stoic look on the outside, but inside he was complaining. His ribs were throbbing from the kick Zabuza had given him earlier, and he just wanted to stop fighting and go home to read about how Tsuki-chan and Jira-kun have a fun time together with Rocha-chan. If Zabuza knew that Kakashi was daydreaming about his porn while they were fighting, he would vomit out a mouthful of blood. _Well… It’s getting close to the end, isn’t it?_ Kakashi thought disinterestedly as he saw Zabuza straining himself as he attacked. He danced out of the way and swiftly retaliated with a fire bullet. Zabuza easily put it out and growled at him. Kakashi merely eye-smiled. _Time to end this farce!_ “It’s the end!” Kakashi yelled out and summoned his nin-ken. They immediately chomped down on Zabuza, holding him in place.

“You captured me, are you going to kill me now?” Zabuza sneered.

“It’s tempting, but… I couldn’t possibly kill you, Naruto would get upset with me as you’re his new friend’s most precious person,” Kakashi eye-smiled as if he was okay with that. _Naruto shouldn’t make friends with the enemy! And even if he does, he definitely shouldn’t give them a nickname when even I, his awesome Sensei, don’t have one!_ Kakashi pouted remembering Naruto talking about his new friend “Haku”. Zabuza shivered feeling that the jounin in front of him was having indecent thoughts… _MY cute little genin should only be focusing only on ME, not any outsiders!_ He would’ve continued ranting but he saw his adorable genin bringing back a young boy wrapped in chains with them. _That must be the fake Hunter-nin…_ “Did my adorable genin bring their sensei a present?” Kakashi asked.

Zabuza snapped, “Pervert sensei, stay away from Haku! Man, why do you keep attracting weirdos…” He lamented, muttering the last part under his breath.

“If anything, you’re a pervert too! Eyebrow-less Freak!” Sakura defended Kakashi who burst out into tears. _My genin do care about me!!! Although, now that I think about it, she didn’t deny that I wasn’t a pervert… At least she defended me!_

Naruto was about to ask Kakashi what they should do with Haku when he heard a high-pitched whistling noise coming from behind Zabuza. The next thing he knew, he was staring at Haku’s bent over body on the floor. It all happened so fast.

One second everyone was okay and the next Haku screamed, “Zabuza-sama!” and twisted his body to protect Zabuza from the arrow that was shot at him. Now, all Naruto knew was that there was a bright red blooming wound in the middle of Haku’s chest.

“Haku!” Naruto cried out as Sakura ran forward immediately checking his wound.

She bit her lip, “There’s nothing I can do.” Naruto stood there frozen. Sakura felt so useless right now. _I studied healing to help fix them up when they get hurt, but now… But now, I can’t even fix up this simple chest wound._ Sasuke looked at Naruto concerned. He knew how it felt to have someone close to you killed right in front of you. _Naruto…_

Naruto just blinked and wiped at the red blood spatters on his cheek. He didn’t move and then he heard Zabuza. “Hehe, great job, Haku.” The ninja listened to Zabuza’s words in disbelief. Zabuza shook free of Kakashi’s dogs and stood up again. “I sure picked up something useful! Giving me this final chance!”

Naruto began shaking. _Unforgiveable!_ He instinctually bared his teeth and felt his chakra rumble within him. “Naruto, stay here…” Kakashi commanded as he saw Naruto looked like he was about to jump Zabuza. Kakashi slowly laid Haku on the ground and closed his eyes as Zabuza watched coldly from the distance. “This is my fight,” Kakashi declared.

Zabuza bared his teeth at Kakashi and lunged forward. He slashed his huge sword trying to unbalance Kakashi. _Damnit! Why can’t I keep up with him?_ He thought frustrated, as none of his attacks connected.

Kakashi vanished and reappeared behind Zabuza, stabbing both of his arms in rapid succession. “Now, both arms are useless, you can’t even make a seal.”

“Oooh!” a voice spoke up before Zabuza could execute his next move. “You’re getting your ass kicked. Hahaha Demon of Mist they called you, what a joke! It’s more like Baby Demon…” the stout man mocked as he stepped in front of the ninja.

“Gato… Why are you here? And with all these men?” Zabuza growled.

“The plan’s changed. Zabuza, I’m having you killed. I was never planning on paying you anyways…”

Zabuza furrowed his eyebrows together and spoke to Kakashi, “This fight is over now that I don’t have to kill the bridge builder anymore, I have no reason to fight you.”

Gato laughed obnoxiously and strode forward. “Oh, this one… I remember you! Hehe, you’re dead now,” he spat on Haku’s body and aimed a kick at it.

“What are you doing, you bastard!” Naruto yelled out about to attack but was yanked back by Kakashi.

“Hey, don’t attack now, look at their numbers! Don’t just jump in,” Kakashi spoke trying to unsuccessfully pull Naruto away.

Naruto felt a fiery chakra rise within him, waiting to be unleashed out into the world. “Say something! Wasn’t he your friend too?!” Naruto shouted at Zabuza.

“Save it kid. Haku is already dead,” Zabuza coldly shrugged.

“Do you really mean that?” Naruto demanded, rage burning through his body. A red mist began leaking out of him. When he noticed Zabuza staying silent he asked again, “Don’t you feel anything at all! Weren’t you two always together?”

“Shinobi are just tools. Like Gato used me, I used Haku. His death was useful to me. I have no regrets,” Zabuza repeated mechanically, a little subdued and not able to look up from the ground.

“Hey… Do you really believe that?” Naruto accused. By now, the red mist shrouded Naruto in a thin layer, still invisible to the human eye.

“Stop, Naruto! We’re not fighting him anymore!” Kakashi said as Naruto broke free of his sensei’s hold with the boost to his strength the red mist gave him.

“Shut up! My enemy is still him!” he raged pointing at Zabuza. The red mist became heavy in the air and altered Naruto’s eyes and teeth, making them more pointed. Naruto breathed heavily and shouted, “He… He really loved you! He loved you that much!” With each word, the red chakra spiked until it suppressed everyone. “Do you really… Really not feel anything at all?” Naruto yelled and punched Zabuza who made no move to block it and laid on the ground, still. Naruto felt the anger drain out of him with the punch, the red chakra retreating within him, giving way to his sorrow. “If I become strong… Will I really become like you?” he asked. He remembered how Haku lit up when he talked about his precious person. “He threw his life away for you!” he shouted, his voice becoming hoarse. “He threw away his dream for you! He died as a tool for you!” Naruto swallowed and choked back his tears. “That’s, just… too sad,” he finished, tears streaming down his whiskered cheeks.

“Kid…” Zabuza said. “You don’t have to say anymore.” Naruto looked at Zabuza only to see him shedding tears too. “It pained him to fight you, he was always too kind.” Zabuza stood up slowly and staggered towards Naruto who didn’t move. “I’m glad I faced you in the end. You’re right, kid, a shinobi is still human. We’re not emotionless tools. I’ve lost…” He stopped right in front of Naruto. “Lend me your kunai, kid…”

Naruto looked at Zabuza. “Okay…” he handed over his kunai. Kakashi twitched but didn’t move. If that ninja touched one hair on Naruto’s head, he was in for a world of pain…

Zabuza shot forward and slashed his way through the hired hands. He didn’t bother dodging anything and rushed forward single-mindedly. He didn’t stop until he was right in front of Gato, holding the man up by his neck. “Wait! I’ll give you anything you want! Money! Women! Anything! Just let me go!”

Zabuza ignored the man’s cries and grinned maliciously. “The only place you’re going is to hell with me!” He swung the kunai Naruto gave him and beheaded Gato. He then stopped and toppled over.

“Don’t look away. This is the end of a man who’s lived a hard life…” Kakashi told Naruto.

“Yeah…” Naruto answered staring at Zabuza’s fallen form.

“Hey, hey, hey!” “Aren’t you guys too at ease?” “Yeah! You killed our meal ticket!” A bunch of the mercenaries drawled as they postured in front of the ninja.

Team 7 coldly gazed at them. “Kakashi-sensei, don’t you have an awesome jutsu to beat them?”

“No, this is bad. I used too much chakra in the fight before…”

“Useless pervert-sensei!” Sakura growled and Sasuke agreed silently. Kakashi cried inwardly. _Although my students gave me a nickname, I can’t be happy with this one!_

“Let’s fight!” The hired hands raced forward and then stopped as an arrow dug its way into the ground in front of them.

“Stop! Don’t come any closer or the citizens of Wave will beat you up!” Inari stated.

“Inari!” Naruto cried out joyfully.

“Hey, a hero always shows up to protect their loved ones, right?” Inari grinned at Naruto who nodded happily back. A crowd of villagers were behind Inari with Tazuna leading them forwards.

“I couldn’t just let you fight alone,” Tazuna explained when he noticed Kakashi looking at him pointedly. “I used the failsafe to get out of the barrier the kid put up and rounded up the villagers. Inari insisted on coming. He was also the one who got most of the villagers to show up!” Inari blushed.

“That’s not true…” he murmured shyly, sneaking a peek at Naruto who was smiling proudly at him. _Boss looks really stunning when he’s smiling…_ Inari looked away from Naruto, embarrassed.

“It is too!” a villager argued while the others agreed. “We couldn’t just let a kid come out here alone. We need to protect our village too! After all, if we do nothing, then nothing will ever change!”

The mercenaries stared warily at the villagers, not wanting to fight but also unwilling to run away. _If it’s this much, we can probably win…_ They thought, their plummeted morale slightly rising. “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” Naruto cried out and the world was instantly engulfed in orange. _Okay… This will be harder, but we can still win. What can an army of brats do anyways…_ Kakashi copied Naruto and instantly 30 extra Kakashi-clones popped up. _Fuck this! I’m outta here! I saw what their sensei could do, no way am I staying for more!_

“Do you still want to fight?” Kakashi and his clones eye-smiled menacingly at them.

The mercenaries gulped before screaming, “No we don’t Uwaaa! Let’s get outta here!”

The villagers cheered, “We did it!” and threw down their weapons, celebrating at the ended rule of Gato. Kakashi walked over to where Zabuza’s body laid.

“It… looks like it’s over,” Zabuza weakly croaked out.

“It is,” Kakashi affirmed.

“I see… I have one last request.” Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at Zabuza. “I want to see his face.

Kakashi angled his headband over his eye and answered, “Okay.”

“It’s snowing!” a villager marveled. _Are you crying where you are, Haku?_ Zabuza thought.

“Thanks, Kakashi,” he said and looked at Haku’s face. _You’ve been by my side for so long… At the end, I want to be by your side too…_ “If I could, I’d like to go to the same place as you…” Zabuza trailed off and stroked Haku one last time before finally closing his eyes forever.

Naruto sobbed, “You will, hic, don’t worry!” He sniffled and said to Kakashi, “Haku was born in a snowy village.”

Kakashi said, “I see,” and then tucked Naruto into his side. Naruto, wanting comfort at the moment, didn’t protest at all and obediently allowed Kakashi to hold him tightly and rub his back slowly. They stood in front of the two corpses. One a young boy that would do anything for his precious person, the other a hardened old man that barely knew what it was like to care for someone until it was too late and he was dying. Team 7 watched over their bodies silently, mourning the loss of two brave souls from their world.

* * *

Two Weeks Later: Zabuza’s Grave Next to the Finally Finished Bridge

“He was brave, wasn’t he?” Naruto said in front of Zabuza’s grave.

“Yes, he was,” Kakashi agreed as he remembered Zabuza cleaving through the forces like a maelstrom through stormy waters. _He took after your namesake after you spoke to him, Naruto._ He thought, remembering how Zabuza broke down after Naruto rebuked him. Sasuke came out of the house and noticed where the rest of team was, joining them in front of the grave. Sakura quickly followed after Sasuke.

“And Haku wasn’t a tool in the end. He was a beloved friend of Zabuza’s. He got his wish in the end,” Naruto continued as he stared straight ahead at Kubikiribōchō, Zabuza’s sword.

“No, he wasn’t,” surprisingly Sasuke was the one who agreed. Sakura nodded remembering Haku’s sacrifice for Zabuza. _He must have really loved him._ She thought. _And in the end, Zabuza loved Haku too._ She smiled at the grave willing her tears away. _A beautiful friendship like that does not deserve tears._ She thought and firmly stood in front of the grave with her teammates.

“I’m glad we came here and helped Wave. I feel we’ve gained something a lot more precious,” Naruto said looking his teammates in the eyes. Sasuke fidgeted a little, unwilling to meet those clear blue orbs, while Sakura blushed slightly. Kakashi didn’t stop himself from being drawn into Naruto’s eyes. He could feel Naruto’s feelings pouring out from them: _Protectteamfriendshiplovehappiness_ and so many more emotions swirled around him, welcoming him like an old friend.

Naruto was about to continue talking when a large bird landed on his shoulder. The other members of Team 7 were taken aback when they saw Naruto didn’t seem surprised by the bird. Rather, he seemed expectant? “No letter today either? That’s too bad… Nice flying, Hatori! Here I got another letter for you. Do you think you can take it or do you need to rest for a bit?” The bird angrily bit Naruto’s fingers before puffing up and cooing. “Okay, okay, I get it! Here’s the letter,” Naruto fished the letter out of his pocket seal and passed it on to the bird. It nuzzled Naruto and let out a parting _Coo_ before taking off once more.

Everyone was silent or a bit before Sasuke interrupted the silence. “You named it pigeon-bird?” he smirked.

Naruto flushed and said, “Shut up!” as Sasuke snickered.

“So, who’s the letter for?” Sasuke asked, not wanting to call Naruto ‘Dobe’ but unwilling to call him by name either. In the end, he just cut off the name completely when talking to Naruto.

“It’s to my Grandma!” Naruto answered as Kakashi widened his one eye. _Is someone pretending to be his Grandmother and writing to him? He shouldn’t have any relatives alive that I’m aware of. Unless…Could it be? A long-lost Uzumaki?_

“I thought you had no family?” Sakura asked bluntly.

“Well, actually, she’s more like my Great-aunt, and I just found out about her a few days ago. So, I sent her a few letters, but she hasn’t responded yet,” Naruto frowned glumly.

“It’s fine, you’ve got us instead,” Sasuke comforted him instinctually when he saw that frown. He instantly wanted to take it back after he said it. But it was too late, he could only swallow down his next response and let it go. It helped that Naruto was looking at him with wide grateful eyes. _Why did I just say that?_ He just couldn’t help but comfort Naruto when he saw that frown. It just looked so wrong on the blonde’s usually sunny happy face. _Damn. I’m growing attached to this team…_

Sakura felt the need to comfort the blonde too when she saw his sad eyes. She awkwardly rubbed his back a little and was relieved to see it stop hunching over and relax. It wasn’t the fact that he was sad, it was more the resigned look in his eyes. As if he truly believed that a long-lost relative wouldn’t want to get into contact with him because it was him. She sighed a little. _Caring about Naruto now, wow, I’ve really changed…_ She peeked at Naruto and saw him beaming at her and Sasuke. _Still… It seems that I’ve changed for the better._ She smiled back at them satisfied.

Kakashi could nearly wipe a tear from his uncovered eye. The other eye, as it was, already had tears streaming down from it. _My genin team is finally coming together!_ He rejoiced. He could see the easy comradery forming between his team. _Maybe I’m not unable to make connections after all. I care for them, all three of them, deeply, and I won’t let them get hurt, ever!_ His uncovered eye sharpened as he remembered almost losing his genin in their last fight with Zabuza. A cold fear had gripped his heart at the thought. _Never!_ He vowed. _Never, will you get that close to death in my presence again._ _I’ll bet my life on you three. Even if I’m defeated, I’ll protect you, always._ A sudden welling of emotions he hadn’t felt since he joined the ANBU, actually, emotions he hadn’t felt since his sensei’s death, suddenly outpoured. He reacted instinctually and grabbed his three genin in a tight hug. Naruto instantly relaxed into his grip like butter, while Sasuke tensed up. Sakura reached her hands up and returned the hug by wrapping them around the others tighter. _This is how a real team should be._ She thought. Sasuke stopped resisting and finally relaxed into his teammates’ grips. _Damn, I am attached and… and… I don’t mind._ He let go and just enjoyed the warmth of his team, his home, his new family.

Tazuna looked on at Team 7 wondering why they were hugging all of a sudden. “Ninjas… The more I interact with them, the less I understand them,” he said, giving up on trying to reason out their actions. He dismissed the hugging ninjas from mind and turned back to his bridge. “This bridge… It needs a name.”

“How about The Uzumaki Naruto bridge? A bridge that brings new hope?” Inari suggested.

“I like the sound of that,” Tazuna said as he ruffled Inari’s head. “The Uzumaki Naruto Bridge: A Bridge of New Hopes, what a fitting name.”


	6. The Fifth Meeting (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for another update! It's not as long as the last chapter, but get ready to meet a special friend :)  
> Thanks, as always, for the bookmarks, comments, and kudos!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

 

 

* * *

 

The Fifth Meeting (Part Two): The Trip to Whirlpool

“Inari!”

“Boss!”

“Ina-Hey! Why’d you wet me Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto scowled looking like a drenched kitten. He swiped at his face and blinked a few times trying to get rid of the water.

“Sorry, I saw a fly near you head. It must’ve been lost on the road of life,” Kakashi insincerely replied, trying to look nonchalant. _No way am I letting my genin go to the Gai-side of life! They should be perverted not demented! Come to the depraved side, we have a Sannin, hot springs, and Icha Icha Paradise!_

“More like it got lost to the afterlife…” Sasuke muttered, seeing the fly twitch and plummet to the ground, its wings too wet to hold it up.

Kakashi pouted. _Why don’t any of my genin copy me? Gai’s already got a mini-Gai on his team. Where’s mine?_ “I want a mini-me too!” Kakashi cried out, startling Tazuna.

“If you don’t have one by now, I don’t think it’s going to grow…” Tazuna mumbled before looking away as Kakashi glared at him.

Sakura wasn’t listening, she was too busy face-palming. They were finally leaving Wave today, and Naruto and Inari were saying goodbye… Again… For the past one hour…

“Can’t you stay just one more day? Please?” Inari looked up at Kakashi, opening his eyes as wide as he could.

“Sorry, we have to leave today if we’re going to make it back to Konoha on time…” he eye-smiled. No way was he going to risk opening his eyes and chance looking at Naruto’s puppy dog face. That’s how they’d gotten delayed this late in the first place.

Sasuke snorted, “Since when did you actually care about being late…” Kakashi played deaf and picked Naruto up bridal-style.

“Woah! Sen-sei!” Naruto yelped. “Why’d you pick me up? I can walk,” Naruto asked once he regained himself.

“It’s in return for when you carried me on your back when I had chakra exhaustion,” Kakashi leisurely replied, walking forward.

“No, that’s okay! You don’t need to carry me, really,” Naruto tried persuading him. _Just give up, kid. There’s no convincing that masked sadist now…_ Tazuna thought, remembering the hours he dangled over Kakashi’s shoulder.

“Hmm? But I like carrying you,” Kakashi shamelessly replied making Naruto speechless. Before he could say anything, Kakashi diverted his attention, “Don’t you have to say goodbye to Inari? At this rate, we’re going to leave before you say anything to him.”

Naruto immediately twisted around in Kakashi’s grip and faced Inari. “Inari! This isn’t a goodbye because we’ll see each other again! Remember to be brave and keep being a hero to your town!”

“Boss!” Inari cried out as tears starting pouring from his eyes. “I’ll always remember you! Don’t forget to come back and visit!”

By now tears started pouring from Naruto’s eyes too. “Don’t worry, I won’t! I promised and I always keep my word because that’s my ninja way!” Naruto yelled out, sniffling a little as he saw Inari turn into a small dot in the distance. He relaxed into Kakashi’s grip, already forgetting he was being carried. Kakashi sweat-dropped as he felt the blonde snuggle into him and fall asleep. Placing Naruto into a piggy-back hold, he continued hiking up the trail.

Matching his pace, Sasuke fell into line next to Kakashi. Sakura sped up and joined the two. She noticed Naruto had fallen asleep and was about to wake him up when Sasuke’s hand caught hers. “Don’t. He hasn’t been sleeping well lately,” Sasuke stopped her.

Sakura blinked. _He’s holding my hand! Love prevails!..._ She thought at first before realizing what her crush said. “Why?” _What’s up with Naruto? He’s never this tired…_

Letting go of Sakura’s hand, Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked at a stone. “Don’t know. I think he’s been having nightmares,” he confessed. Sakura frowned in concern. She didn’t know when she had gotten so close to Naruto, but somewhere along the line, her feelings had changed for him. What used to be distaste and hatred gave way to grudging acceptance, which had changed during the trip into feelings of friendship and comradery. She even looked forward to hearing his constant “Dattebayo” tic. It almost felt like Team 7 was her other family away from home. Sakura never experienced being this close to anyone other than her parents. Not even her friendship with Ino felt this way. This was something more, something too hard to explain. But she knew she liked feeling this way and that she cared for her blonde teammate, so when she saw noticed that something was troubling him, she wanted to punch whatever it was away. _No one hurts MY team, CHA!_

Sasuke warily looked at Sakura, wondering why she had felt the need to punch a hole into the tree next to him. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to get involved. Sakura had changed, mostly for the better. She no longer followed him around everywhere like a stalker, and yes, he had noticed. He just ignored it as usual. It was kind of hard not to notice the bright pink hair doggedly following his every footstep, no matter how sneaky she thought she was being. And although she did still give him those love-struck looks every now and then, even those were dwindling. The only bad thing about her transformation, was her… destructive tendencies. _And those seal gauntlets Naruto made for her really weren’t helping matters…_ Either way, he knew to stay clear of her whenever she was in one of _those_ moods. The last time Kakashi had asked if she was okay, she glowered at him so viciously he flinched. She made a jounin finch with just her glare! So far, it seemed that Naruto and he were exempt from the stare, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He shuddered. _That glare was almost worse than when nii-san Tsukuyomi’d me…_

Naruto shifted in his sleep and Team 7 froze, not wanting to wake the blonde. He mumbled, “Ramen,” and then nuzzled his face into Kakashi’s shoulder and sighed. Everyone relaxed when they realized he went back to sleep.

 _Phew, that was close._ Kakashi thought. He petted Naruto’s fluffy hair as he walked. He was glad that Sasuke and Sakura finally treated Team 7 as part of their family. He had learned that lesson way too late to actually connect with his former teammates, but his genin still had a chance and they took it! He couldn’t be prouder of them if he tried. Whenever he saw them caring for one another he always felt a warm glow in his chest. _I’ve missed this. The feeling of family._ He sighed in contentment. _Now if only I could find a way to get rid of Naruto’s nightmares…_ Even he didn’t know how terrible Naruto’s childhood was, the Hokage had only told him a few details, but even with those it wasn’t that hard to imagine the cruelties he faced. _It must have been so lonely._ He thought, unconsciously remembering how empty his house felt after his father’s death. Only his Team could make him feel not alone. _And now we won’t let him be alone anymore either._

 _From now on, Team 7 will be there for him too._ Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke all agreed deep in their hearts. No longer will Naruto have to suffer with only as company. He finally had a Team to rely on, and rely on them he would. Today, although Naruto didn’t notice, as he was too far gone in the land of sleep, our loveable blonde had gained another family. It was only later he realized that it was this mission to Wave and its many near-death experiences that really solidified his shaky bonds with his teammates. But that realization was still far off in the future...

* * *

_Hey… re…u... there? …Can…u…r… me?_

* * *

 

“Well, this isn’t what I was expecting…” Sasuke looked around him. Only one word could describe their surroundings: Sand, sand, and more sand. “Where’s this village supposed to be anyways?” he asked Kakashi.

Kakashi hid away his Icha Icha and pointed out to the horizon. “It’s supposed to be in that direction,” he lazily waved his hand. “We’ll go check it out tomorrow,” he yawned and stretched out his arms. “I’m going back to the hotel room and joining Naruto in the land of slumber. You know where to find me,” he finished and shunshined back to the hotel room where Naruto was sleeping. He also secretly left behind a shadow clone to protect them, not wanting another Haku situation to occur.

“Want to go out into town with me?” Sakura asked hopefully. Although she had stopped acting on most of her fangirl urges, she still had feelings for Sasuke. A night out in town sounded like a perfect date, especially since they were all alone!

“…en,” Sasuke hesitated before reluctantly agreeing. They’d been traveling all morning in a forest with barely anything edible to eat. So far on the trip, Naruto had always unsealed a few of his snacks to share with them or they’d eaten Tsunami’s delicious home-cooked meals. Since they hadn’t wanted to wake Naruto up, this was the first time during the trip where they actually had to either hunt or rely on soldier pills until they reached this town. The bags under the blonde’s eyes belied how little sleep he’d actually gotten on this trip. Although he tried to hide it with his usual perkiness, his smile couldn’t fool Team 7 anymore. Not after they’d seen the brilliant one he’d given Inari after they’d defeated Gato and saved Wave. Now that they could actually detect Naruto’s fake smiles, Sasuke and Sakura were surprised to realize how little Naruto really smiled. Most of his smiles in the academy or with their Team before were wide and toothy, not at all like his genuine warm smiles that made them feel flutters in their stomach. No one in Team 7 believed that Naruto actually was the happy-go-lucky blonde he portrayed himself as anymore.

 _I just wish he’d let us see under his mask…_ Sasuke sighed. Caring about someone again after years of not was hard. He just wanted Naruto to trust them enough to show his true self around them. It seemed like the energetic blonde never had his defenses down. _In fact…_ Sasuke almost stopped walking as a thought hit him. _In fact, it’s almost as if his mask is automatic. Like he’s had it on for so long, he forgot how to take it off... But what could be so bad that it forced him to hide himself that long?_ Sasuke furrowed his forehead in thought as Sakura pulled him inside a small restaurant by the road.

“What’re you thinking about?” Sakura asked as she sat down at the table. Following her lead, Sasuke sat down and opened the menu.

“Naruto,” Sasuke answered. “He’s improved from the academy… You have too,” he added as an afterthought.

“Thanks,” Sakura blushed. _He acknowledges my strength! Cha!_ “I’ve worked hard,” she agreed. “But, it’s mostly due to these gauntlets Naruto made me,” she admitted and absently stroked her gauntlets.

“How do they work?” he asked intrigued, closing the menu and gesturing for the waiter. Sasuke had seen Sakura use them to make monstrous punches, and he knew Naruto made them for her when he was fighting with Haku, but that’s all he knew about them. He also wanted to know what had made Naruto so exhausted after he made them…

After they ordered their dish, Sakura replied, “Oh, yeah! You were fighting with Haku when Naruto made them for me.” Sasuke listened intently, ignoring the strange flash of jealousy he felt when Sakura said Naruto made them specially for her. “We wanted to help you get out of that ice dome, but it was too strong to cut. But I remembered that I was able to punch really hard in the first fight and that the same thing sort of happened when we were tree walking.” Sasuke nodded remembering how their feet broke the trunk when they used too much chakra. “I thought that maybe I unconsciously used chakra to enhance my strength, so I tried it out and it worked. But I didn’t actually have enough chakra to use it yet. This is where Naruto came in.” She paused and ate a spoonful of the parfait she ordered. “I remembered that in his explanation about summons he said he could store things inside scrolls so I asked if he could store chakra inside a punching glove. He said he could store the chakra, but I’d still have to use my own chakra control to manipulate it. I drew the gauntlets the Demon Brothers used when they attacked us and asked Naruto to store chakra in the secret compartment instead of the balls and chains they used.” _So that’s why it looked so familiar…_ Sasuke thought as he took a bite out of his sandwich. “He made a lot of seals that I still don’t really understand and somehow condensed them into two smaller seals that he then inscribed on each gauntlet. Now I’m able to use the extra chakra in it to make my punches super hard until I can do it with my own reserves. Naruto also made it able to leech chakra out of nature and people. That’s why he was so tired. He’d filled it with almost all his chakra.”

Sasuke stabbed his side salad harder than usual when he heard Sakura drop that bomb on him. _That idiot! How could he exhaust his chakra when he saw what it did to Kakashi! He could’ve died! And we still had a battle to fight! What was he thinking!_

“He said he still had enough chakra to fight,” Sakura said when she noticed Sasuke’s horrified face, correctly guessing it was related to Naruto’s chakra expenditure. “And that if he didn’t give me at least this much then I wouldn’t be able to free you. I tried to stop him, but you know how he’s like…” She shrugged helplessly.

Sasuke knew. He knew how his blonde teammate was like and how stubborn he could be when he wanted something. _Stubborn blonde._ He thought fondly. “Next time he tries this, we’ll stop him,” promised Sasuke. Sakura nodded, taking notice of the ‘we’ and not ‘I’ used in that statement. She was glad that Sasuke was finally including her into the team and taking her seriously. _Now if only he could fall in love with her too… Then everything would be perfect, Shannaro!_ She inwardly cheered.

As if he could read her mind, Sasuke suddenly spoke up, “You know that I can’t be with you like that, right?” Noticing Sakura was confused he bluntly clarified, “I don’t like you, and I will probably never have those feelings towards you… I care for you and Naruto and Kakashi in a way, but I’m not ready for what you want.” He thought it was better to clarify this now then cause a misunderstanding later on.

Sakura pouted. “But that doesn’t mean that you’ll never have feelings for me,” she insisted.

“Not likely…” Sasuke inaudibly muttered. “Well so long as you know it’s not going to happen anytime soon and that I don’t like you that way…”

“Of course, Sasuke! But, to quote Naruto, I never give up, that’s not my ninja way! So, get ready to be wooed!” Sakura gushed with maniacal fervor in her eyes.

Sasuke’s lips twitched at the mention of Naruto’s catchphrase. “As long as it doesn’t get in my way, or in the way of our missions, or become too annoying, do whatever you want…” he surrendered.

“Yes!” Sakura jubilantly replied as Sasuke shook his head at her. _I was so close!_ He sighed. _It seems like it’s impossible to get rid of fangirls… I wish I knew how nii-san dealt with them… Maybe I should just copy Kakashi-sensei and wear a mask…_ He stopped thinking about it, and spent the rest for the afternoon checking out the stalls with Sakura.

* * *

_I k… you c… hear me. W… up, b… at!_

* * *

 

In the hotel room, Kakashi woke up feeling that one of his genin had the urge to copy him. _Yes, I knew my students wouldn’t let their sensei down!_ He teared up slightly. _Now how am I going to persuade the others…_ Lost in thought, Kakashi didn’t notice Naruto’s whimpering, until he was nearly kicked out of the bed. _What?_ He thought and leaned over to see what was bothering his genin. Naruto was frowning and… were those tears on his eyes? Kakashi frowned and whispered, “What are you dreaming of little one?” Little did he know that Naruto had gotten used to keeping his cries inside, especially at nighttime. Neither the orphanage nor his landlord were very forgiving when he woke them up with his screams. After many years this was the result: silently crying in his sleep, alone, with no one to comfort him. Kakashi didn’t know all this, but he didn’t need to know to comfort Naruto. “It’s alright, I’m here, you’re not alone anymore,” he soothingly whispered to Naruto as he rubbed the blonde’s tummy using some healing chakra to calm him.

Recognizing the chakra in his sleep, Naruto sighed, “Kaka-sensei…” Kakashi held his breath. _Wat it? Could it truly be? The long-awaited nickname!_ Now, all he had to do was make sure it wasn’t a fluke. He stopped rubbing Naruto and looked down at his student again. The deep lines and frown had left the blonde’s face, leaving him looking like an innocent little kid who had no worries. Satisfied that Naruto was no longer having a nightmare, Kakashi wrapped the comforter around the blonde and tucked him in before scooting over to the other side of the bed and going back to sleep. _Sweet dreams, Naruto._ He thought before succumbing to the dream-world. Little did he know that the chakra had helped free something that would make Konoha’s villagers shudder if they knew about it…

* * *

 _Brat! Wake up!_ A voice called out. Naruto yawned and flipped over onto his stomach, going back to sleep. **_BLONDE BRAT! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! WAKE UP!_** A guttural roar echoed across the space. Naruto snapped both his eyes open and jumped up looking for the voice.

“Huh? Who’s there?” Naruto sleepily rubbed his eyes wondering if he imagined everything.

“So, you’re awake?” a male voice asked.

“Who are you!” Naruto asked and then looked around. “Why am I in the sewers? Wait, how’d I even get to Konoha?”

“Come find me runt, then I’ll answer your questions,” the voice beckoned before it stopped speaking.

“Wait! Where are you?” Naruto yelled out, but there was no response. _Looks like I’m on my own._ He looked down the dark tunnel and gulped. _Here goes nothing._ He stepped into the tunnel and walked forward. Water puddled the damp tunnel, making the path slippery. As he kept walking, Naruto noticed that this wasn’t Konoha’s sewer system. It didn’t have any turns and only went straight. He continued following the pipes and wondered, _why would someone bring me here?_ In the distance, the tunnel widened up and Naruto found himself in a large clearing. There were ten metal bars in front of him, blocking the rest of the way. “Hello?” he called out before jumping back as a large claw stabbed down where he once was.

“So, you’ve made it, brat?” the sinister voice from before chuckled. Naruto shivered, feeling the vibrations from the laugh shake the ground.

“Yeah, I’m here. Why’d you bring me here and trap me in a cage!” Naruto shouted out angrily.

Instantly, the air grew colder. “ _Trapped_ …you here?” the voice growled. At first, he was going to humor the blonde brat, but what he said was unforgiveable. “You think that _I_ **…** _trapped_ you here?”

“Y-yeah,” Naruto stuttered, hearing the voice grow angry.

“I have not _trapped_ you here as you said! In fact, this is inside of you, and _I_ am the one who is _trapped_ here!” it roared.

“You, who are you?” Naruto asked and stepped closer only to see two red eyes glowing in the dark cage. He stumbled backwards.

“Me? I’m the Kyuubi no Kitsune, your prisoner!” A large jaw moved into the light, its many pointed teeth smiling widely.

“Wait, you were the one who destroyed the village!” Naruto shouted getting angry.

The fox scoffed. “As if I care about your village. Do you care about ants on the street when you walk? No, you don’t!”

“So, you accidentally… stepped on Konoha?” Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion, the anger draining away.

“No-” he was about to rebut Naruto, but was interrupted.

“Did you accidentally… sit on Konoha?” the blonde asked imagining a large furry red backside descending from the skies onto his village.

“No-” he growled starting to get annoyed when he was cut off again!

“Did a man with swirly red eyes rip you out of a red head giving birth and control you to attack Konoha?” Naruto pressed once more.

“No- Wait, actually, yes! How did you know?” the nine-tailed fox shut his mouth in bewilderment.

“Ha! I knew my dreams were real!” Naruto gloated and danced around the cave as the fox sweat-dropped wondering why all his jailers were idiots. _Then again, they were all Uzumaki… Maybe it runs in the bloodline?_ He studied the blonde closely, looking for signs of genetic stupidity.

He cleared his throat. “So, now that you see it was all a misunderstanding, why don’t you free this old man? I’m getting on in my years, and I want to live the last of my life to its fullest! What do you say, will you rip the paper seal away?” He spread his tails wide, trying to tempt the blonde.

“No way!” Naruto replied without hesitating.

“Why not?” he growled at Naruto who just stretched his arms behind his head.

“Because it’d kill me and you’d try to destroy Konoha, duh,” Naruto made an are-you-stupid face at Kyuubi who was sporting a tick mark on his forehead in annoyance. “I saw more of that dream, you know? And I saw that even when you were free, you still attacked Konoha! But… I can’t really blame you…”

The Kyuubi opened his mouth to retort that he had every right to hate Konoha, when he heard those last words. He closed his maw, swallowing his words, interested in what the blonde imp would say.

Naruto knew he couldn’t be angry at the fox once he saw his eyes. _Those eyes… They’re the same ones I saw every day, staring back at me in the mirror…_ He trailed off remembering how not only had the nine-tailed fox been controlled twice to attack Konoha but also had been trapped in three bodies in Konoha. “If anyone trapped me inside three bodies, I’d grow angry too! Especially if I felt all the villagers’ hatred while I was trapped…” Naruto, himself, had felt the villagers’ hatred for the past 12 years of his life and knew how hard it was to not resent them. He couldn’t imagine how the Kyuubi felt not only seeing everyone’s hatred, but also hearing and feeling it inside his head everyday nonstop for the past 100 years or so.

“So, you understand. If you won’t let me free, why not let me take control of your body instead. We can trade turns, and I can even get revenge on Konoha for how they treated you,” he wheedled, trying to get Naruto to agree.

Naruto was silent. _What’s with this blonde brat? Isn’t he usually more energetic? Why can’t I read his thoughts right now…? Actually, why can’t I feel any negative emotions from him at all?_ The Kyuubi looked at Naruto in shock, wondering what how he had no negative emotions. _That isn’t possible…unless…_

“Actually… I can let you be free, but only on one condition,” Naruto spoke up.

“What? I’ll do anything _,”_ the Kyuubi agreed quickly, already thinking of what he could finally do with his freedom. _First, I’ll destroy Konoha. Then, I’ll destroy Konoha. Finally, I’ll destroy Konoha!!! Then I’ll scour the world for Madara and pluck out his eyes and kill him, slowly…_ So entranced by his plans of revenge, the Kyuubi almost missed what Naruto had said. “What?” he asked in disbelief, not knowing if he heard correctly.

“I said,” Naruto began patiently. “That in order for me to free you, you have to let go of your hatred.”

“That’s impossible. I’m a _being_ of hatred… I can’t simply _let it go_ ,” he immediately declined. “Pick something else brat,” he huffed.

“No,” Naruto bluntly refused.

“I knew it was too good to be true,” the fox grumbled. “I bet you wouldn’t have released me even if I promised.”

Naruto heard him and answered while looking the Kyuubi directly in his eyes, “I would have if you promised to let go of your hatred. I never go back on my word, that’s my ninja way!”

“Even knowing that you would’ve died?” the immortal fox couldn’t help but ask, curious.

“Even then,” Naruto nodded.

“Why?”

“Because you’re like me.”

“Uh huh…”

Sensing the other’s disbelief, Naruto elaborated, “You know what it is like to be left all alone.” The Kyuubi reflexively thought back to when the Sage abandoned him and how one by one each of his brothers and sisters left him all alone. “You know what it’s like to be looked down upon, to be seen as a monster.” He remembered how he would try walking into a village only to be overwhelmed by the negativity of the villagers. And even when he could make it into a town, he would be welcomed in warmly on the outside, only for the same humans to think _monster_ on the inside. “You know what it’s like to be despised for something you have no control over…” He recalled the feeling of being stuck in his body, not being able to control it, and having to attack a village when he wanted nothing to do with humans in the first place… He remembered the first few days in Konoha after both battles in his new container. How the hatred wrapped around him like a noose and suffocated him, smothering him in hatred until there was nothing left in him but rage. “That’s why I would free you, because deep down I can feel you still care despite everything the world has thrown at you. You still yearn for your family and miss their love, especially that of your father’s. I’d set you free even at the cost of my death because after all this time, you deserve it… But, I can’t let you destroy Konoha because of my decisions, so until you can let go of your hatred, you’re stuck with me.” Naruto finished his speech and sat down on the floor, staring solemnly at the Kyuubi.

The nine-tailed fox sent some of his chakra to probe his jailor, only to be shocked to realize the boy in front of him was sincere. He truly felt all those things he said! The blonde was willing to give up his life to free him—the cause of his parents’ deaths, the reason his village hates him, the source of most of the misfortunes in his life, just because he felt the Kyuubi deserved freedom after all this time. To not be controlled and to be able to make his own decisions without being locked away in a human due to being deemed ‘too dangerous.’

“Hey, are you okay? You’ve been a statue for some time now,” the Kyuubi glanced down and saw Naruto biting his lip and looking at him in…concern? This was a lot to take in. The last person to care about him like that, to even ask him that question, had been his father. Naruto spoke up again, “So, will you let go of your hatred in exchange for your freedom?” The Kyuubi scrutinized the blonde sitting on the ground and decided this human was more… _interesting_ than the rest. He couldn’t let this one die just yet. Maybe he’d even help him a little.

“No… I think I’ll hold on to my hatred a little longer. In the meantime, before my freedom, I’ll allow you to use a little of my chakra.”

Naruto looked wide-eyed back at the fox. “Is this a gift for our first meeting?” he asked before fretting. “Oh no, I didn’t bring you anything! I’ll get you something next time and for your birthday… When is your birthday, by the way?”

The fox was caught off guard by his container’s wish to see him again. _Strange human kit…_ He ignored most of the rambling and answered the last part. “I do not have this birthday, you speak of…”

“Oh, that’s okay. You can just pick a day! Tell me when you do so I can get you a gift for it too!” Naruto happily said to the fox, totally forgetting that the other had wanted to take over his body. “And what’s your name by the way? I can’t just keep calling you, you…”

The Kyuubi froze again and didn’t move. _Did I break him? Why does he keep becoming like a statue? Is there a lag time in here or something?_ Naruto wondered and almost missed the Kyuubi say very quietly, “…Kurama…”

Kurama didn’t really know why he gave the blonde brat his name. It was an impulse decision. It had just been so long since he heard someone say his real name in a warm tone. Even his siblings had taken to calling him the Kyuubi instead of his actual name. Why he wanted to hear the blonde brat call his name in particular, he didn’t know but-he was interrupted by Naruto. “Ku-ra-ma, Kur-am-a, Kurama!” Naruto tested out. He nearly melted when he heard the blonde say his name. It felt so light, so happy coming from the little one’s mouth. He could listen to the blonde ramble for days if he just repeated his name once.

While Kurama savored the sound of his name being called out in Naruto’s voice, a thought struck Naruto. _Wait… If this is my mind, then I should be able to change it! This can be getting-to-know-you gift to Kurama!_ He closed his eyes and furrowed his forehead, concentrating hard on what he wanted.

 _What’s he doing?_ Kurama watched his blonde close his eyes and breathe in deeply. Suddenly, he felt his cage start to shrink and he panicked remembering how _she_ had kept him in a small jail cell, chained in her chakra chains. He backed away as the bars got smaller and smaller and smaller… He closed his eyes waiting to be squeezed into a small place. Instead, he felt something light fall around his neck. He opened his eyes and noticed the chain he was wearing. He fingered it and scrutinized it closely, noticing the seal drawn on it.

“Do you—huff—like my gift to you?” Naruto asked between pants. _Man, changing a mind landscape sure is hard work…_

“What?” Kurama dropped his chain in surprise and looked around. He was startled to see the sewer and jail cell replaced with a large garden in front of a castle in the distance. The garden was big enough for him to run around in if he wanted to.

“Sorry, it isn’t actually real, but it’s the best I could do given the circumstances,” Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “There’s a garden in front of the house I made for you and there’s a large forest in the back. I also stocked the woods with animals in case you like to hunt, and if not, the fridge automatically refills itself based on your favorites. There’s also a pool in the back big enough for you to swim in! Inside the house, there’s a theater, library, living room, bed room, dining room, office, kitchen, and game room. I was only able to fill the library with books I’ve read so there’s not a lot in there… And the theater only has movies I actually saw, so there’s not much in there either. But, there is a channel that connects you to the real world, so you can see what I’m doing if you get bored…”

“…” Kurama didn’t know what to say. If he wasn’t a millennia old chakra beast, he’d be crying a river right now. He felt choked up receiving a gift from his jailor—no, from his companion. He was touched that Naruto cared about him enough to do this. Truthfully, he’d only given Naruto access to his chakra to make life more interesting… and to loosen the seal so he could escape. Now, he just felt guilty seeing those innocent blue eyes staring at him with trust… “I love it,” Kurama smiled at the blonde in gratitude and firmly repeated, “I love it.”

“Thanks,” Naruto mumbled and blushed a bright red at the praise. This was his second time giving a gift to someone, and this time he could actually see the other’s reaction. It felt really good giving something to someone and making them happy.

Kurama on the other hand, seeing the pure joy on Naruto’s face and sensing the delight in his emotions made a vow to protect his kit’s happiness. _You’ve shown me kindness where others have shown me hatred, given me forgiveness when others blamed me instead, called me by my name and cared about me enough to sacrifice yourself… For as long as you live, I’ll stay with you, help you, protect you until the day you die. And even if you take me with you then… I won’t try to escape, I’ll stand by your side even in the afterlife._ “Hey, kit, come here,” Kurama beckoned Naruto over.

“What is it?” Naruto stopped babbling and moved closer to Kurama, not at all worrying about the danger the demon could pose.

“Here…” Kurama held out a large furry paw towards Naruto. “Let’s seal our _friendship_ with a fist bump,” he tested out the word friendship. _How long has it been since I’ve called someone a friend?_

“Okay!” Naruto chirped and unhesitatingly bumped fists with Kurama. He felt a vibration pulse throughout him when their fists touched. “Whoa! What was that?”

Kurama hid his face with four of his tails bashfully before explaining, “Now, your body can withstand my power without getting as badly hurt. You still have to train to use all my powers, but this should make it easier.” He’d never shared his power with anyone before. For some reason, this just felt too… _embarrassing!_

“Thanks!” Naruto thanked Kurama who just hid his face behind even more of his tails. “I promise that I’ll find a way to let you out of the seal and help you let go of your hatred.”

“No, that’s okay,” Kurama said and surprisingly, he was okay with being stuck inside the blonde for eternity. “I don’t mind staying with you forever,” he sincerely said and removed his tails to look at Naruto in the eyes.

The blonde’s eyes got wider. Nobody had ever actually told him they wanted to stay with him forever! Actually, no one has ever even told him that they didn’t mind his company. He emotionally pounced on Kurama, stretching his small arms around the Kyuubi’s furry red body. He sniffled, “Thank you for wanting to be with me!”

Kurama stilled as he felt the kit’s feelings of _lovefriendhipfamilyhappy_ wash over him in a soothing wave and suddenly all he could feel was _protectminekitprotectlovehappy_ and the need to protect _his_ kit. The need to protect was something he had never felt before. It felt new, strange but nice in a way. _I like this feeling. It feels warm, like I’m home again with my family._ He wrapped his tails around the kit carefully, encasing him in a protective cocoon. “I-I may have seen you as my prison before, but you are so much more than a container to me now.” He nuzzled Naruto. “You’re my kit and I’ll stay by your side even after you die. Our souls are bound together, so wherever you go, I’ll follow. And that’s okay.”

Naruto felt himself relax into the purring fox’s hold. _If I’m his kit then that means that Kurama is part of my family too!_ “Welcome to the family, Kurama,” Naruto grinned up at the nine-tailed demon.

Kurama laughed at his kit’s words, “Glad to be here, brat!” They both relaxed, feeling each other’s presences wrap around their own in a calm, comforting manner. They stayed like that the rest of the day, lazily relaxing on the garden Naruto made. Watching the stars travel across the sky and occasionally talking to each other about their lives. Like that, the whole evening passed by.

* * *

Back with Sasuke and Sakura…

“Hey, let’s check out that stall,” Sakura dragged Sasuke to the shady booth, leaving him no room to protest. He observed the stall and scoffed as he read the sign: _Madame Mirai’s Miraculous Magic: Foretelling the Future since Forever_.

Sakura sighed dreamily and walked into the shop, pulling Sasuke along. _I wonder what she’ll tell me… Maybe she’ll tell me how many kids I’m going to have with Sasuke!_ She giggled in a high-pitched voice. _I should ask her who Naruto is going to marry! And how Kakashi-sensei looks under his mask! I also definitely have to ask her when Sasuke will finally fall in love with me!_  

Sasuke looked around, surprised to see the shop looked more like a tavern then a fortune teller’s booth. There were ten wooden tables and benches set in front of a small stage where two people were dancing along to the blaring music. In front of the door was a counter where people could buy drinks from, there also was an old lady wearing a fur boa. She had on a purple turban and her long fingers were covered in rings. Sakura skipped up to the counter and asked, “Are you Madame Mirai?”

“Yes, I am the Magnificent Madame Mirai! What can I do for you, dearie?” the old woman spoke in a hazy voice. Sasuke coughed once to get the smell of perfume out of his mouth.

“I want to know my future!” Sakura leaned in awaiting her words.

A crooked finger pressed against her forehead. “I see in your future… a friend or a foe… orange swirls and a… mask?” She opened her eyes and stared at Sakura.

 _That must be Naruto and Kakashi-sensei…_ Sasuke thought as Sakura blurted out, “Wow! How’d you know? Those are my other two teammates! They’re back at the hotel, sleeping!”

“Madam Mirai knows all!” she mysteriously smiled at Sakura who gazed at her in awe. A man sitting at the counter snorted into his drink.

“Yeah right!” he said.

“Oh? This one doesn’t believe, Moi?” she asked, glaring at the disbeliever.

“Give it up, Mirai! You just saw them accompanying those two when they entered the village. I know you _say_ that you’re related to some high priestess named Miroku from the _supposed_ Land of Demons, but everyone knows that the Land of Demons doesn’t even exist.”

“Shut up! It’s a hidden village, of course you don’t know about it!” the old woman snapped at the old man, destroying her mysteriousness from before. “Madame Mirai knows all! Disbelievers have no say!” she yelled, shaking a finger at the old man.

“I believe in you, Madame Mirai!” Sakura immediately defended her.

“Good girl, as you should,” she smiled at Sakura. “I predict great fortune in the future for you, especially with blondes...”

“Heaven knows why I married this crazy lady…” he grumbled under his breath and ignored the two women discussing their future fortunes. “You don’t believe any of this stuff, do you lad?” he asked Sasuke who just gave him an understanding look. He knew how it felt to be trapped with loudmouths that only boast about their amazing powers or their future destinies together with him…

“Do you know anything about Whirlpool village?” he asked the old man, figuring he was the only sensible one here.

“Why? You aren’t planning on going there, are you sonny?” he asked jokingly.

“Yes, we are,” Sasuke answered, irritated by the old man’s teasing tone.

The old man studied Sasuke’s face and his smile morphed into a frown. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Sasuke nodded. “Listen… I should warn you about that place. Ever since its downfall, it’s been a ghost village. Not for the lack of the people trying to go there, but because of the spirits. Legend has it that after the people of Whirlpool were massacred, they were so angry that their spirits stayed behind to lead anyone who steps foot there to a watery grave.” Sasuke scoffed. He didn’t believe in legends… “You might not believe the legend, I didn’t either at first, but that changed when a few children went out there to play. One of the children, whose distant ancestor was from Whirlpool before it was destroyed, got stuck in a daze and walked to the edge of the cliff, about to jump off before the other children stopped her. Later, she said she didn’t remember anything at all except for the sound of bells ringing in the distance… To this day, no one dares to venture to the island and children are forbidden from going there by their parents. Some of the towns folk reckon that it was one of the child’s ancestors wishing for the child to join them in their underwater graves…”

Sasuke made a face at the man. “Thanks for your… concern, but we have a mission to go there and nothing’s going to stop us from finishing it.”

The old man sighed and waved his hands. “Do as you want, but remember my warning. Who knows, it might just save your life.”

Sasuke nodded to show he understood. He was about to ask the man a few more questions about the place when Sakura pulled him away. “Come on, Sasuke, let’s go! This old lady couldn’t help predict our future together…” She pouted remembering the old woman’s words. “What’s with, ‘The future is shifting around you too much to tell. It’s like a whirlpool, its rapids constantly churning, changing the future too many times to see which road is the true path.’ She only saw friendship and a blonde in my future! But that doesn’t matter Sasuke-kun, you’ll always be the one for me no matter what a fortune teller says!” She smiled widely at Sasuke, a maniacal gleam in her eyes. Sasuke felt goose-bumps break out on his skin. He shivered and averted his eyes. No way was he going to encourage his teammate’s… obsession with him. _You’d think that by now they’d give up when they see that I have no interest in them at all. Fangirls…_

“Thanks,” he dryly responded. “But I think you should be focusing on your ninja training first.” He quickened his pace back to the hotel and cut her off before she could drag him to another stall. “I think we should get back to the hotel. It’s getting late.” Sakura deflated, but looked up the sky and saw it darkening.

“Okay,” she reluctantly agreed. “Let’s go back.”

Sasuke smiled, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. “Let’s,” he nodded and they both made their way back to the hotel.

* * *

Naruto’s Mindscape

“Hey, Kurama?” Naruto asked from within the furry fox’s embrace.

“Mmnh?” Kurama lazily opened his eyes to look at Naruto.

“What’s with that ringing noise? I’ve been hearing it non-stop since I came in here. I thought it was part of my imagination or something, but is it just me or is it getting louder?” Naruto scrunched up his nose.

 _How cute!_ Kurama thought and couldn’t help using one of his tails to tickle Naruto’s face. “No, you’re not imagining it, in fact…” he described what was happening.

“Oh, so that’s what was happening,” he smacked his fist on his palm in understanding. “In that case, I should probably wake up…”

Kurama nodded and pushed Naruto up into a standing position. “Be safe kit, I’ll be right here if you need me.”

“Okay! See you later,” Naruto waved goodbye and concentrated, his body slowly growing more transparent until he finally disappeared.

* * *

Kurama looked at the spot Naruto had been in longingly and sighed. “That kit is going to be the death of me,” he murmured fondly remembering all the trouble the blonde gets himself into. “Already, going on another dangerous adventure, just days after his last one,” he covered his eyes with his tails and whined. “And now I have to protect that brat! Oh well… I better get going to the theater room and watch to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.” Kurama stood up and stretched out his back. “Okay, time to go see,” and with that he bounded over to the movie room, ready to watch over his kit and help him out of any danger.

* * *

The Next Morning

“He’s still not awake yet?” Sakura asked biting her lip worriedly. Sasuke gazed at his… _friend_ also anxious. It bothered them to see their normally energetic teammate still and lying on the bed, unmoving.

“No,” Kakashi answered, ruffling the blonde’s hair. “But he should be waking soon. He’s almost done with this sleep cycle.”

Sakura blinked. “You memorized his sleep cycles?” she asked dumbfoundedly. She couldn’t bring herself to feel creeped out, only feeling relief that Naruto would be waking up soon.

Kakashi ignored her question. “In fact, he should be waking up in 3… 2… 1…”

Right as he said, ‘one,’ Naruto opened his eyes and jumped to his feet.

“Naruto! You’re…awake. Hey! Where are you going?” Sakura yelled out as Naruto shot towards the window and jumped out of it.

“What just happened?” Sasuke asked in disbelief. _Did Naruto just jump out the window?_ Kakashi ran to the window and looked outside. He saw Naruto run across the path to the beach. Without saying anything, he also flew out the window and sprinted after Naruto.

“Wait!” Sakura cried as Sasuke followed his sensei and threw himself out the window. She sighed and muttered, “Here goes nothing…” and jumped out the window too. Both genin ran after their sensei, trying to catch up to Naruto. When they finally reached the beach, they thought Naruto would stop running, but he didn’t even pause. He just used water walking to speed across its surface and continue on his way towards Whirlpool. _Almost there…_

Kakashi stopped at the water’s edge, waiting for his other two genin to catch up. “Okay, hold on tight!” he said and wrapped an arm around each of his genin’s waists. “This might get bumpy!” Before either of them could argue, he gathered chakra to his legs and jumped.

“Woah!” Sakura breathed out. Sasuke agreed. He had to admit that the view was spectacular. They were about 50 meters above the village and could see everything! The turquoise-blue sea, the ruined remains of Whirlpool, the village they were just in, the stalls, the beach, everything. In the distance, he could even make out a small orange speck scuttling towards the rubbles of Whirlpool. Then gravity kicked in and suddenly they were falling. “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Sakura screamed in a high-pitched shriek, deafening her other teammates. Kakashi breathed in and released the chakra he’d gathered earlier, propelling them forwards towards Naruto. “Oh my god! We’re gonna die, we’regonnadie, WE’REGONNADIE!!!” Sakura screamed as she saw Whirlpool approach them. Sasuke closed his eyes, waiting for them to splatter across the ruins. Kakashi released another wind blast and they flew upwards once more, narrowly missing the tower in front of them and landing safely on the largest cliff in the dilapidated village.

“Phew, that was close…” Kakashi placed the two stunned genin on the ground and wiped the sweat of his brow. _Man, I’m getting old… I almost hit that tower…_ He walked to the other side of the cliff and looked out over the edge. _Now, where’s Naruto?_

As if summoned by his sensei’s thoughts, Naruto used the tree walking exercise on the cliff’s sides and jogged up it, joining his team at the top. _Yes! I’m almost there! Now I just need to…_ He ran across the cliff and stopped right next to Sasuke at the edge and bent his legs.

Sasuke laid out on the ground where his sensei had dropped him. _I’m still alive?_ He patted his chest, making sure that he wasn’t hallucinating. He snapped out of his daze when he saw Naruto approach him and bend his knees. _Is he about to jump?_ The old man’s warnings echoed in his brain. “One of the children… got stuck in a daze and walked to the edge of the cliff, about to jump off… Some of the towns folk reckon that it was one of the child’s ancestors wishing for the child to join them in their underwater graves…” _Shit, wasn’t Naruto an Uzumaki? One of the clans that used to live here in Whirlpool?_ He lunged forward and caught the edge of Naruto’s fraying pant cuff, just as Naruto jumped off the cliff. _No way am I letting his dead ancestors take him away from me, I mean us!_

 _Why haven’t I reached the water yet?_ Naruto looked up to see himself dangling over the cliff’s edge, Sasuke clutching his ankle cuff in an iron-tight grip. “Sasuke let go!” he yelled.

“No way!” Sasuke grunted and tugged Naruto up a little.

“You don’t understand! The bells… They’re calling me! I need to go! Please!” Naruto looked up at Sasuke with watery eyes.

Sasuke got a bad feeling about this. Didn’t the old man say something like, “Later, she said she didn’t remember anything at all except for the sound of bells ringing in the distance…” _Shit!_ He cursed as he felt the fraying cuff start to rip.

“Kakashi!” Sasuke yelled over his shoulder as Naruto inched downwards, his pant cuff slowly ripping. _No, just a little more! Please!_ Kakashi sprinted over, but the cliff’s edge was just too far away and he’d already exhausted most of his chakra trying to get there in the first place.

“Just let go, I’ll be fine! I promise!” Naruto stared into Sasuke’s eyes, trying to tell him he would be okay.

“NO!” Sasuke cried out as the cuff ripped and Naruto plummeted into the water. Sasuke hands grasped at the air as he stared unblinkingly at his teammate’s falling form. He made a move, about to jump and join Naruto, when Kakashi stopped him.

“Stay here with Sakura,” Kakashi held a hand out, stopping him. Sasuke looked up at his sensei. Kakashi had never looked as reassuring as he was right now. Sasuke unconsciously nodded. Kakashi took two steps back, and then ran forward and dived off the cliff.

“What just happened?” Sakura asked from where she was still sprawled out on the floor. “Did Kakashi-sensei and Naruto really just jump off this cliff?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke helplessly shook his head. He stood up and started pacing.

* * *

Kakashi spiraled closer to Naruto. When the orange genin was right next to him, Kakashi stopped spiraling and wrapped his arms around the blonde. He looked down and saw a whirlpool forming beneath them. _This is going to hurt!_ He was about to send the last dregs of his chakra under them to cushion the fall when Naruto tugged at his sleeve and pointed up. _What now?_ Kakashi looked up and saw a pink blob screaming as it floated down towards them, followed by a black blob.

* * *

“What are we doing up here, then?” Sakura asked, her hands crossed.

“Kakashi said to stay up here with you,” Sasuke answered and then continued pacing back and forth.

“And you’re just going to listen to him?” Sakura snapped, a vein pulsing on her forehead. _How can he just wait here while our teammates might be about to die?_ Sasuke held his hands up helplessly. “Fine, be that way! But, I’m going to go and join the rest of my team!”

Sasuke felt that bad feeling from before intensify. _Wait, what is she doing? She’s not… Shit!_ He ran towards Sakura, trying to stop her, but it was too late.

“See you down there!” Sakura yelled and jumped off the 500m cliff.

Sasuke gripped his hair and breathed in. _Why are all my teammates crazy?_ His lips twitched. _Guess it doesn’t matter, after all, I’m just as crazy!_ He opened his eyes and ran to the edge of the cliff, also jumping off.

* * *

 _What are they doing? I told them to stay up there, not to follow me and jump of the cliff!_ Kakashi used his remaining chakra to wrap around his other two genin and bring them into his arms. He held onto them tightly. _I don’t have enough chakra to cushion our fall…_ Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke closed their eyes, preparing for the worst.

Naruto channeled his chakra and pushed it into the whirlpool, making the sealing matrix underneath it light up. _That’s it, keep it up Kit!_ Kurama encouraged him, as Naruto poured almost all of his chakra into the whirlpool, causing the last seal to glow, emitting an anti-gravity field, causing Team 7 to decelerate until they were floating two meters above where the whirlpool used to be. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura stared wide-eyed, not understanding what was happening.

 _Swoosh. Chink. Whirr. Ka-chink._ The whirlpool drained away revealing a platform which slowly rose out of the ground. In the center, there was a head-shaped indentation. Naruto unsealed a mask out of his pocket storage seal and threw it into the middle of the platform. It settled into the indentation with a clink, and then the ground began rumbling.

“What did you just do?” Sakura shouted over to Naruto as the wind rose up around them.

“Nothing bad,” Naruto assured as a black vortex appeared in front of them. Kakashi shuddered at the ominous presence he felt. _Wait… This energy, it feels the same as the one I felt on the day the Kyuubi was sealed…_

Sasuke squinted at the vortex and saw a translucent shadowy figure drift out of it. The demonic spectre darkened its body, showing it had purple skin, shaggy white hair, and two red horns protruding from its skull. It smiled its long-jagged teeth around a tanto. Using the hand not gripping prayer beads, it took out the tanto and licked its lips with a long serpentine tongue. Its white kimono fluttered as it asked, “Who has summoned me?”

“I did,” Naruto said and waved at the creature.

“Why have you summoned Shinigami?” it asked and stared at Naruto, ignoring the other three. Inside Naruto, Kurama was freaking out. _This was not part of the plan, kit!_ Naruto just shushed him and continued his conversation with the Shinigami.

“I want the other half of my soul-companion! I bet Kurama doesn’t feel good with only half his soul. And I also want the other soul that was trapped along his. I feel a connection to it. We also want to go inside the Vermillion Bird’s sanctuary,” Naruto answered. Kurama didn’t know whether he should thank or kill his idiotic blonde container for his reckless actions right now…

“Why did you not just control me using the mask?” the Shinigami asked. The other three members of Team 7 tried listening in, but couldn’t because of the barrier the Shinigami erected.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. “Well… I wouldn’t have wanted to be controlled by a mask and be forced to do things, so I thought that you wouldn’t want to be either…” Kurama remained silent in agreement. He knew how horrible it felt to be coerced to do things.

“What if I said no?” the Shinigami asked, intrigued by the little mortal’s response. Normally, the all-powerful being wouldn’t have heeded the summons, but the blasted mask was used so the entity was forced to come. It was going to devour whoever dared to summon it, but decided not to as it had felt a trace amount of its energy within the mortal. _Interesting._ The entity decided to hear the human out, but it seemed like he was like the others of his kind…

“Nothing… I would’ve been sad, I guess, and tried to trade or fight you for them, but I wouldn’t have used the mask to force you. I read about what it does, and I don’t think anyone could be happy about being forced to cut open their own stomach,” Naruto sympathized.

“Oh?” the Shinigami looked at the blonde. _It seems I was too hasty. Maybe this mortal, is truly different… Or an idiot… Did he really believe he could fight me and win?_

“Yeah. Actually, I also called you here for something else…” Naruto trailed off.

“What is it?” the Shinigami asked preparing to grant one favor to this mortal for not using the mask. _What will he want? The souls? Riches? Power? Female mortals?_

“I want you to take the mask.”

The Shinigami froze. _What? The mortal wants to give me the mask?_

 _What’s with large powerful entities becoming statues when they talk to me? Is there really a lag-time for the human world or something?_ Naruto wondered and continued, “I want you to take back the mask, so no one can control you anymore and force you to rip open your stomach or do things you don’t want to. It doesn’t really make sense for people to have control over death anyways… They should live in the living and not mess with the controller of the dead…”

The Shinigami couldn’t believe this tiny slip of a mortal was trying to give the Shinigami something it had yearned for ages. The boy was giving him back control of that cursed mask. The entity had made the mask as a gift for an Uzumaki named Ashina after the ninja allowed its creation, the Vermillion Bird, a sanctuary on his lands. The being didn’t expect that the mask would continue controlling it centuries down the line, forcing it to drop its work and do whatever the ninja who had it commanded. The entity couldn’t even find and destroy the accursed mask, because of the cloaking spells it had placed upon it. But now, this small creature wanted to give back the mask without forcing it to do anything in return. If the Shinigami had emotions or tear-ducts, it’d shed a few tears right now.

“Thank you,” the Shinigami said to Naruto before making a decision. “I’ll release the two souls you asked for, and they will merge with their remaining energy on Earth.”

“Thanks!” Naruto chirped but the Shinigami wasn’t finished rewarding Naruto.

“I shall also tell the Vermillion Bird to allow you entrance to its sanctuary. Regarding the mask, I shall tweak it slightly and allow you to hold on to it. From now on, no one but you can use it. It shall always remain on you and will follow you into death where I will take it from you. You may use it to call upon me within this time.” The Shinigami decided to allow the mortal to keep it until he died. After all, the remaining years the mortal could live was nothing much to the Shinigami.

“Thank you so much!” Naruto squealed and threw himself forward, hugging the Shinigami.

“Yes…” the Shinigami said and stiffly patted the blonde on the head twice, trying to remember how biological lifeforms comforted each other. He reminded himself that this was not an attack, but a show of affection and that the mortal was too young to be declaring an intent of procreation with this embrace. “I must be going now. Your companions will not remember what just happened. They will only remember jumping off the cliff into the whirlpool.” The Shinigami detached Naruto from him and rubbed his head once more, softening its voice. “If you need anything don’t hesitate to call for me. Goodbye for now,” it finished and faded away.

 _Kit! No more hugging super powerful entities that can kill you in the blink of a second!_ Kurama scolded. He had nearly had a heart attack when the blonde launched himself at the Shinigami.

“Okay Kurama,” Naruto automatically answered, not really listening. Kurama sighed fondly. There really was no helping his impulsive blonde…

Naruto looked down to see a whirlpool had replaced the platform. The whirlpool split into two and lava spurted up out of it in a pillar. “No way! I think a fissure just erupted!” Sakura yelled out in disbelief. _Of all the bad luck, we could have…_

 _Are you kidding me?_ Sasuke stared at the lava in shock. His head was a bit fuzzy right now, as if he was forgetting something important, but he ignored it. “Since when were there volcanoes around here?” he spluttered out.

“Maa maa,” Kakashi waved his hand. “We’ll be fine!” he tried to reassure his two genin. They just looked at him incredulous. “Whenever something unbelievable happens, and it looks like we’re all going to die, something powerful will come and save us! Either that or we’ll have a life-or-death battle and eventually win… And since there isn’t anyone to fight, something super strong is going to save us!” The other members of Team 7 just looked at Kakashi in mistrust. “What? It’s true…” he pouted. _My little genin don’t believe in me…_

“Look, over there!” Naruto pointed at the flaming column. The flames unfurled into two large… wings?

“My creator has sent me here to grant you entrance. Inside, there are only the temple and the falls. Once you have finished, call out _Vermillion_ and I shall take you back to your home,” after finishing, the bird morphed back into flames and disappeared in a swirl.

Kakashi’s voice broke the silence first. “See, I told you a powerful entity would save us!” He almost put his thumbs-up but refrained, thinking it was too Gai-ish. The genin sweat-dropped at their sensei. _Who knew he’d actually be right… This must be what they call ‘experience.’_ All three of them incorrectly surmised.

“How do we go inside?” Sasuke asked. As if replying to him, the flames sank back into the ocean, and the whirlpool extended out towards them. It stopped an inch below them and smoothed its main swirly layer into a slide leading into a crack in the water.

“I think we’re supposed to go down there,” Sakura pointed downwards.

“No point in waiting,” Naruto said and then jumped onto the slide. “Woohoo! This is fun! You guys got to try it out!” The other two genin looked at Kakashi who eye-smiled at them.

“You heard him, let’s go!” and then he too hopped onto the slide. Sakura nodded at her sensei’s words and followed him down too. Sasuke joined her after a second. Team 7 slid down the swirl to the bottom of the ocean. Once all of them stepped onto the sandy bottom, the whirlpool ascended and a dome of water enclosed over them. They were inside a bubble on the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by many exotic and colorful fish.

“Now what?” Sakura asked as she watched the fish swim around their bubble.

“I think we have to do something with this drawing on the ground…” Sasuke bluntly pointed below them.

“Is this a seal, Naruto?” Kakashi asked, stroking his chin in thought.

“Nope! But I think those drawings are of the four directional animals…” Naruto answered honestly.

“Right! Didn’t you use those for your barrier seal earlier?” Sakura asked.

“Yeah,” Naruto scratched his cheek in thought. “I think this one here is the Black Turtle of the North,” he pointed to the circular shape on the top. “That would make this the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, and the White Tiger of the West!” He pointed to a squiggly line, a pair of red wings, and striped cat shape respectively. “Since we’re here for the Vermillion Bird’s Sanctuary, I think we have to push chakra into that picture,” he pointed to the red wings.

“Alright!” Kakashi moved forward and pushed his chakra in. “Hmm?” he tilted his head in confusion, “Nothing’s happening?”

“I think I should try,” Naruto moved forward. “My chakra has traces of Uzumaki chakra, so it should work…” he trailed off and pushed his chakra into the picture. It glowed and a staircase emerged below them. “Come on! Let’s go!” Naruto excitedly bounded down the stairs, the rest of Team 7 right behind him. At the end of the staircase, there was a large clearing with a small pagoda in the center. In the middle of the pagoda, there was a waterfall falling from the roof and continuing deep underground. Around them, the walls were filled with luminescent rocks that glowed around the cavern. As Team 7 neared the pagoda, they could make out a small sign. “Meditate around the Falls of Truth inside this Tailed Beast Temple to truly connect with your inner self,” Naruto read out loud.

“Is this why you brought us here, Naruto? To meditate around the falls?” Sakura asked, staring at the blonde in confusion.

“Sort of… I wanted to come to Whirlpool because I read in my Uzumaki History book that there was a meditation waterfall that I could use to… awaken a… special constitution that I inherited from my clan,” he explained, trying to avoid talking about his Jinchuuriki status. “Jiji said that some people who have a similar ability also awakened their talents in Kumogakure. There they have the Falls of Truth on the back of the Black Turtle of the North. I think they call it Genbu the Island Turtle. The Uzumaki had something similar. We had the Falls of Truth hidden within the Vermillion Bird of the South’s Sanctuary.” He waved his hands around as he explained. “Actually, I was just hoping to come here to see if I could find this place, but I didn’t have much confidence because no one recorded where this place was. But once I woke up on this island, I felt a constant nagging sensation drawing me closer and closer to this area until I could only hear the clear sound of two bells ringing. Then I knew what I had to do, I had to jump into the whirlpool to reach this hidden area.”  He walked forward and sat under the pagoda. “You guys can meditate under the waterfall. It’s supposed to really clear your head and help you solve problems that are hindering you from reaching your full potential as a ninja.”

“Okay,” Sasuke immediately agreed to meditate under the waterfall with Naruto. He sat down next to Naruto under the pagoda. He didn’t really know how it could help him become a better ninja, but if Naruto believed in it, then it couldn’t be that bad, right? Plus, he was sure that Naruto wouldn’t hurt them on purpose… _Then again, he did jump off an 500-meter cliff just because he heard the sound of bells ringing …_

“Let’s do this!” Sakura cheered and sat cross-legged under the pagoda. Kakashi joined her silently. Then Team 7 closed their eyes and began to meditate. The pagoda glowed and promptly knocked them all out…

* * *

Naruto’s Mindscape

“Oww,” Naruto groaned. “Why do I feel like that time I ran into Choji’s dad and bounced against the brick wall?” The blonde pushed himself up and saw he was in the garden in front of Kurama’s mansion. “Yo! Kurama, you there?” he called out and walked to the back of the house. He stilled once he noticed who were in the pool.

“Naru- Ahem, I mean, brat, you’re finally here!” Kurama greeted in his gravelly voice. Naruto blinked. It wasn’t every day you saw a 15-foot nine tailed fox holding a platter of drinks and serving them to his twin.

“Stupid me, you’ve arrived. How kind of you to keep yourself waiting,” a copy of him walked towards Naruto. “I see you’ve given up your foolish affections for the pink one…” He circled Naruto and stopped right in front of him.

“You… Are you me?” Naruto examined the other blonde carefully.

“Yes,” the blonde answered his counterpart. He tensed up slightly, wondering if Naruto was going to continue ignoring his negative feelings and pushing them to him.

“Oh! That’s so cool!” Naruto’s eyes sparkled as he looked over his twin. The other blonde sweat-dropped. _I knew I was overestimating his ability to understand things…_ “So, how have you been all these years?”

These words kindled the flame of anger within the other blonde’s heart. “You tell me, hmm? How do you think I’ve felt all this time, trapped up in here? You’ve been shoving every bad feeling you’ve had towards the village up here for me to deal with!” The other blonde roughly poked Naruto’s chest. “How do you think I feel, stuck trying to solve all our problems alone! It doesn’t help that I got most of our father’s brains while you got the reckless-throw-myself-into-danger instincts from our mother…” he muttered the last part under his breath. The two demon foxes in the pool however, heard what he said with their enhanced hearing and nodded. _No wonder our container is such a spastic moron in everyday life and only brilliant occasionally in battle…_

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. He knew he had a lot of denial going on in his head after his realization that he wasn’t actually in love with Sakura, but he didn’t know it was bad enough to create a separate persona! “Sorry,” he said and he meant it. It must’ve been awful trying to sort out his negative emotions alone. “Is that why I can’t use Kurama’s powers to sense negative feelings? Because I’m in denial?”

The other Naruto hesitated before answering, “Actually, I’m not really sure about that…” He looked back at the two foxes who were frolicking in the water. “I don’t think that I’ve ever felt the villagers’ negative emotions, only ours… Otherwise, I’d be a lot less level-headed than I am now. Actually, it’s a good thing you freed me from that place. Another three years, and I’m sure I would’ve attacked you in jealousy at being able to go out there in the real world and make friends.”

“Yeah,” Naruto scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to say. How do you comfort someone stuck in a prison, albeit a nice prison, but a prison nonetheless… _The only way I could free him-me-it-whatever would be to swap places. But is that even possible?_ Tired of thinking, Naruto looked over to see if Kurama was still playing with himself.

* * *

“So… the Shinigami’s stomach…” Kurama opened up.

“I. Don’t. Want. To. Talk. About. It.” the other Kurama said.

“But—” Kurama whined.

“No!” he cut off but sighed as he saw the other him widen his eyes and make them teary. “Fine,” he huffed. “It was like… It was like being impaled and wrapped in chains in Kushina with the added blank darkness of Mito.”

Kurama winced in sympathy, “Ouch…”

The other Kurama nodded and then smirked, “So… a sewer?” It grinned at Kurama who pouted.

“That was when the Kit didn’t know about me, and only had his childhood experiences to develop his mind…” The other Kurama’s face darkened. He knew what had to be done to a child to warp their mind into something as horrible as a sewer. Kurama barred his teeth remembering his kit’s childhood. _No wonder he had to make a separate him to deal with the pain…_ He sighed and continued, “But look at this place now! It has a mansion fit for the magnificent us!” he tried injecting humor into the conversation. The other him laughed, sharing the same sense of humor as himself.

The other Kurama cleared his throat and asked, “Shall we get to it? No point in staying separate any longer…”

Kurama nodded. “Okay, come here,” he moved closer to the other him and nuzzled him.

“I accept you,” they both whispered and merged into one.

* * *

 _Woah! Did Kurama just merge with his other self? Wait! That’s it! Merging! He could merge with the other him, that way they both would get to see the world together._ “Hey, we should merge too!” Naruto called out to the other him.

“Do you know what that means?” the other him asked doubtfully. Naruto shook his head no. “It means, that you’ll have to deal with our negative emotions and thoughts from now on. No more splitting yourself in two and hiding away your feelings. Are you ready to hold that burden? Are you ready to take down that mask of happiness you’ve had on for years?”

Naruto was silent. He honestly didn’t know if he could handle all those emotions again. He had a vague memory of when he was younger and it all got too much for him. That’s when he’d finally decided to stop crying because it wouldn’t change anything, and to start smiling and trying to change things. _I thought I was handling my emotions, but it looks like I was just hiding them under a rug of denial…_ But, when he saw himself sag in resignation, thinking that he’d have to deal with all the emotions alone again, Naruto knew he had to say something. “I won’t be alone when I deal with them,” he said while looking into his twin’s eyes. “ _We’ll_ be dealing with the emotions together. You know what they say, a team is stronger than an individual, any day!” The other Naruto was shocked, and then launched himself at the blonde in pure joy.

“You accept me?” he asked in hope, looking like a lost little boy.

“Yes, I do. Do you accept me?” Naruto asked while hugging his counterpart who nodded his agreement.

 _So cute!_ Kurama thought as he watched his two blonde kits hug each other tightly as if they let go, the other would disappear. The wind picked up in the mindscape and enveloped the two blondes who felt like they were floating and suddenly what was two became one. It felt like a piece of him he never knew was gone, finally came back home. He sighed in relief and sank back into the grass, laying on his back. In no time, he was joined by Kurama who lazily blanketed Naruto with his tails. Naruto leaned back and relaxed as he petted Kurama. _I finally feel whole again…_ He thought as he watched the sun set over the forest behind them.

* * *

Meanwhile, the other members of Team 7 weren’t faring as well as Naruto had. Sasuke and Sakura still hadn’t made any progress with their inner darkness, while Kakashi on the other hand, was struggling with letting go of his.

“Who are you?” Kakashi asked the imposter he saw in front of him. He had woken up inside his bedroom, confused at what was happening. Being observant, Kakashi immediately noticed this wasn’t his regular bedroom, but instead was his childhood bedroom. He silently left the bedroom and walked into the living room wondering why his “Kai” hadn’t disrupted this genjutsu yet.

“You know who I am,” the older man said to Kakashi, fingering his ponytail of spiky silver hair. He slung a familiar chakra sabre over his shoulder.

“No, that’s impossible…” Kakashi denied and trailed off when he noticed the sabre. “You… How do you have a white light chakra sabre? This is the only one that was ever made!” he called out in shock, taking out an identical tanto. “The maker died after its commission, taking its secrets to his grave! How do you have one?” Kakashi asked pointing the blade at the man in front of him.

“Kakashi…” the man sighed and held his hands up in surrender, deciding he should tell the paranoid jounin where he was before he tried to kill him. “We are in your mind to face your inner darkness. Don’t you remember meditating underneath a waterfall?”

Kakashi withdrew his saber, but didn’t sheathe it. “The falls… I remember,” he rubbed his masked chin with his free hand. “Why are you here?” he faltered when he looked at the dead man standing in front of him.

“I-I just wanted to talk to you one last time… I’m here as a guide, to take you to your inner darkness… and to help you fight it, if you will allow me to,” the man stuttered, awkwardly trying to convey his feelings. He stiffly turned around and began walking in a direction.

Kakashi followed him and looked at his father’s back. He didn’t know if this was a really elaborate trap or just a very vivid hallucination. Either way, he knew he had to talk to him on the chance that this was real. “I forgive you,” he quietly called out. Sakumo Hatake stopped his footsteps.

“What?” he croaked out, thinking he’d misheard his son.

 “I forgive you for leaving me,” Kakashi repeated, louder this time. Sakumo turned back and looked into his son’s lone eye, searching for the forgiveness he desired all these years. Kakashi tugged down his mask and tilted up his forehead protector, staring at his father with his Sharingan spinning, carving the image of his father into his memory forever. “I am proud of you. For saving your teammates,” he clarified and took in a deep breath. Trying to inject all the emotions he could into his next words, he said, “I will always love you.”

Sakumo rushed forward and hugged his son tightly. “I love you too, son! Thank you for forgiving me,” he cried, tears spilling over his cheeks and trailing onto Kakashi’s shoulder. Kakashi just rubbed the older man’s back, silently comforting him without words. Sakumo pulled back. “I will always be proud of you,” he smiled at his son warmly and then smirked. “Even if you are a hopeless porn-addicted pervert,” he rubbed his hand through Kakashi’s silver hair fondly.

“Hey,” Kakashi scowled, reverting back to his younger self. “Not the hair!” he growled, copying Sakura’s reaction to him ruffling her hair.

Sakumo pouted. “My cute little boy is growing up!” Kakashi sweat-dropped. _Is this what I look like when I’m with my cute little genin?_ He wondered before dismissing the thought. _Nah. No way, can I ever look that lame…_ If anyone else saw the two right now, they’d helplessly shake their head and think: _hopeless duo…_ _like father, like son…_

Sakumo wiped the last of his tears away and pulled Kakashi along with him. “We have to go to the center of the house to fight off your darkness.” He led Kakashi down into the basement and pointed to a dark smoky orb in the middle of the room. “I can’t go near it, there’s a barrier around it that only you can enter. I’ll try to help you from here,” Sakumo patted Kakashi’s back and pushed him forward.

Kakashi nodded and entered the barrier. He defensively held his sword out and approached the orb. When he got closer to it, the orb spewed out smoke which then split into three inky blobs. Kakashi eyed the balls warily as they shape shifted into the members of his old team.

The Obito-look-alike stepped forward and hissed menacingly, “How does it feel Kakashi? To _steal_ my eye and become famous for it? How does it feel to know that _you_ were the reason I died?”

“No, I—that was—” Kakashi tried to deny, but was cut off by the Rin-blob.

“You killed me Kakashi. You struck a chidori through my heart. You killed _both_ of your teammates. You’re a _Friend-Killer_ ,” she condemned him.

“Rin, I didn’t mean too, I was just—” Kakashi tried to explain but was interrupted by the last blob of his team.

“Kakashi,” a deep voice spoke out and Rin and Obito quieted.

“Sensei…” Kakashi saw his old mentor glare at him with hatred.

“How could you? I trusted you! How could you leave Naruto all alone in the orphanage? Let him experience being hated by the villagers with no one to protect him,” Minato accused. Kakashi’s face crumpled. How could he explain why he couldn’t adopt Naruto?

“…I have no excuse,” Kakashi looked down shame-facedly, each word ripping into his small shriveled heart and shredding it into pieces. Although he protected Naruto as part of his ANBU-detail, he was unable to give the blonde the comfort and love of a family. Even if he tried to make Team 7 a family, he couldn’t make up for the first 12 miserable years of his life.

“I see,” the Minato-clone frowned and stepped closer to Kakashi, almost touching him. “Then, are you willing?”

Kakashi looked up. “What?” he asked.

“I asked, are you willing to suffer for all the things you put us through?” it finished and all three of the blobs stared at Kakashi, waiting for his answer.

Kakashi was about to put down his sword and agree when his father shouted out, “Don’t listen to them! They aren’t real! I’ve been watching over you since I died and I know first-hand what you did. Obito protected you and gave his eye to you of his own free will and you helped make that eye famous across the lands, immortalizing Obito’s sacrifice. Rin stepped in front of the chidori to save Konoha. You didn’t murder her, you saved her from killing her friends and family! And as for Naruto…” Here Kakashi looked at his father, wondering what he would say. “As for Naruto, you protected him those twelve years! Saved him from his parent’s enemies, watched over him like an over-protective brother would! He even gave you a plant as a thank you even if he didn’t know it was you who was saving him. And now, you let him experience a family. You shower him in unconditional love, something he’s yearned for. He trusts you enough to call you Kaka-sensei or Inu-san when he thinks he’s all alone,” Sakumo finished, his voice hoarse from yelling.

The moment Kakashi heard of his genin’s nickname towards him, he stopped wilting and stood up firmly, facing his old team. Instantly, able to stand up against his team’s accusations at the thought of his cute little genin calling him, “Kaka-sensei!” _I knew I’d be able to get a nickname! And I got one before Iruka did, and it isn’t lame like Jiji or Haku! Ha, take that Haku!_ Lost in his thoughts, Kakashi didn’t notice he stepped through the shady forms of his old team and was right in front of the black orb. The orb, sensing Kakashi come nearby, transformed into its final form and Kakashi’s oldest inner fear.

Kakashi snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the shadowy figure of his father. “I killed myself because of you! I am ashamed to have a son like you!” Kakashi stood in front of the form of his father frozen stiff. “You were never good enough for me or your mother! I hate you, in fact I never loved you!”

Sakumo couldn’t stand the sight of himself hurling abuse at his son. “That’s a lie!” he burst out. “Your mother and I both deeply love you and nobody could be prouder than us of who you’ve become today!” Kakashi could see the sincerity in his father’s eyes and held up his saber to the fake form of his father.

“I know my parents love me. You won’t be able to fool me,” he said and slashed down with his tanto, dispersing the remnants of his inner demons as he did so. Sakumo ran forward as soon as the barrier lifted as Kakashi defeated his inner hatred of himself. He hugged Kakashi tightly to his chest and spoke his last words to Kakashi.

“Thank you for forgiving me… Now I can move on in peace. And finally see your mother… Remember that we’ll always love you,” he finished and started dissipating into small balls of light.

“I love you both too!” Kakashi called out as the faint form of his father smiled and then faded. He looked around his empty basement and said, “Well, I guess the only thing I can do is to explore.” He took a step and then the world spun around and he found himself back in his regular body, sitting in front of the waterfall. “Or not…” he murmured half-heartedly.

“Kaka-se—I mean, Kakashi-sensei! You’re all right!” Naruto threw himself at Kakashi and tightly wrapped his arms around him. Kakashi grunted, finding his arms full of the blonde and then remembered what Naruto just said.

“What did you just call me,” he asked looking at Naruto.

Naruto pulled back and averted his eyes, his whiskered cheeks tinted pink. “Nothing…” he avoided looking at his sensei.

“No, I’m pretty sure you called me something,” Kakashi pressed, trapping his squirming student in his arms.

Naruto puffed his pink cheeks up and admitted in a very small voice, “I called you… Kaka-sensei.”

Kakashi almost laughed seeing his student looking like a cute little chipmunk. He wanted to pinch those chubby cheeks, but restrained himself. “What was that?” he playfully asked.

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted, “I said… that I called you Kaka-sensei.”

Ruffling Naruto’s hair fondly, Kakashi eye-smiled and said, “See, that wasn’t’ that hard. From now on, you can call me Kaka-sensei.”

“Okay,” Naruto shyly ducked his head. He didn’t mean for Kakashi to find out he secretly called him that in his head.

“Okay, what?” Kakashi couldn’t stop himself from teasing his blonde.

“Okay… Kaka-sensei,” Naruto blushed hard. _So cute!_ Kakashi thought seeing his genin’s red face.

Kakashi laughed and pulled the blonde up with him. He stretched out his numb legs and then asked, “How long were we in here for?”

Naruto tilted his head and tried to remember, “I think that you were in there for about two or three hours after I came out…” He reached into his pocket seal and pulled out an alarm clock. “We came in here at about 10am, and this clock says that it’s 8:30, so it’s been ten and a half hours!”

Rubbing his chin in thought, Kakashi looked around the clearing and saw that Sasuke and Sakura were still meditating. He figured that they’d be that way for a while and turned to Naruto. “Let’s eat dinner now, I don’t think they’re going to wake up any time soon…”

“Okay,” Naruto chirped and started unsealing. He placed a picnic blanket in front of the pagoda and started pulling out the food. “What do you want Kakashi, I mean Kaka-sensei?” Naruto hurriedly corrected when he saw Kakashi eye-smile threateningly.

“I’ve got rice balls topped off with Bonito flakes, fresh sliced tomatoes, syrup-coated anko dumplings, umeboshi, and anmitsu,” Naruto listed out as Kakashi smiled, hearing the names of Sasuke’s and Sakura’s favorite foods. “And salt-broiled saury and eggplant miso soup, red bean soup, and all the types of ramen I could find!” Naruto continued.

Kakashi stilled for a second before saying, “I’ll have the eggplant miso soup.” He was touched Naruto packed his favorite food too. _But how does he know those are my favorite foods?_ Kakashi wondered, not suspecting Naruto broke into the records room to read his teammate’s files…

“Okay!” Naruto smiled and pulled it out. He handed a spoon to Kakashi and dug into his ramen. He watched closely, trying to see Kakashi’s face. Kakashi smiled, inwardly noticing his genin spying on him eating. He looked over at the pagoda, causing Naruto to involuntarily follow, and when Naruto was distracted he finished off the soup in one bite. By the time the blonde looked back, it was already too late. Naruto slouched in his chair and sulkily ate his ramen. Kakashi laughed at Naruto’s antics and watched him finish off five bowls of ramen, mentally noting never to offer to pay for dinner at Ichiraku’s Ramen. By the time both of them finished dinner and they cleaned up, it was already 9:30.

“It doesn’t look like they’re going to be done anytime soon,” Kakashi squinted at the where his other two genin were resting. “Why don’t we go to sleep for now, and if they’re still not done by tomorrow, we’ll ask the bird to take us back to the Konoha Hospital.”

“Okay!” Naruto agreed and rolled out two sleeping bags. As they both settled down to sleep, Naruto flipped over to face his sensei’s sleeping bag and asked, “Kaka-sensei, can I _please_ see your face?”

Kakashi toyed with just pulling down his mask to reveal his other emergency mask, but decided not to when he saw Naruto’s pouty teary puppy-eyes. _Must resist… Can’t give in…_ In the end… he gave in. “Alright, you can look, but only on one condition.”

“What?” Naruto asked, eager to see Kakashi’s always hidden face.

“No falling in love with me,” Kakashi said seriously and Naruto nodded, almost bouncing in anticipation. Kakashi slowly hooked his fingers on both sides of his mask and tugged it down. Naruto gasped. _Wow, sensei’s handsome!_

Kakashi watched his student closely, ready to pull up his mask if Naruto displayed any of the classic signs of heart-struck fangirls, or fanboys in this case. Other than a gasp, which could easily be due to surprise, Naruto seemed to be normal. _No blushing, heavy breathing, sudden sweating, or increased heart-pounding,_ Kakashi catalogued Naruto’s reactions.

Naruto piped up, “Wow! You’re good looking sensei!” Kakashi noticed that Naruto sounded surprised, but didn’t display any other symptoms. _Hmm… I think he’s the first one other than my father to not fall for my face… I don’t know whether to be happy or sad about this, but I guess it makes sense that only my family doesn’t love my face to the point of becoming raving fans._ While Kakashi was lost in thought, he didn’t notice Naruto staring at his beauty mark under his lips. “I knew it!” Naruto shouted out triumphantly.

“What?” Kakashi asked, startled out of his thoughts.

“I knew you were Inu-san!” Naruto smugly replied.

“How did you know?” Kakashi asked, bemused. As far as he knew, he never showed off his shoulder to his genin, so there’s no way they could tell Inu was him that way. And he never removed his face mask as Inu either, so Naruto shouldn’t be able to identify him that way.

“Your hair was the same, so I thought you could be Inu or related to him, but I didn’t really know. I was going to just ask you, but then I remembered that one time you saved me and the bottom half of your mask broke off. I saw that same mole under your lip!” Naruto said happily.

Kakashi was shocked that Naruto could recall something that far back. “You remember that day?”

“Yeah… It’s hard not to,” Naruto began. _Yeah, I guess even a young kid would remember their birthday. Especially if it was something that traumatizing…_ Kakashi ruminated and figured Naruto remembered that day because someone had hurt him in a failed assassination attempt on his fourth birthday. “I could never forget the day that I made my first friend!” Naruto chirped. Kakashi stared at Naruto, not expecting him to say that. _He always looks at the bright side of things, doesn’t he?_ “Yeah, that was the best birthday ever! I got cake, presents, and a birthday party with a friend and Jiji!”

Kakashi definitely remembered that day. He’d taken Naruto to the hospital after stopping the attempt and then had waited for Naruto to finish healing. He was giving his report to the Hokage, when the nurse stepped out and said that they were all done. Kakashi had given Naruto a get-well balloon, while Hiruzen had brought Naruto a present and a cupcake with a candle in it. Naruto had stared wide-eyed at the present and had happily blew out the candle. He then split the cupcake into three pieces and gave one to Kakashi, Hiruzen, and ate the last piece. Later, Hiruzen had given Kakashi a plant along with a note saying it was from Naruto as thanks for coming to his birthday party…

“I’m so happy that you’re alright. I thought something bad had happened to you,” Naruto’s lip wobbled slightly as he swallowed down a sob. In that moment, Kakashi felt like a jerk for never coming back to visit the blonde.

“Yeah, after that day, we had to up the security in the village and were a lot busier. It didn’t help that the whole Hyuuga-Kumo affair happened then too…” Kakashi scooched his sleeping bag closer to Naruto and ruffled the blonde’s hair comfortingly. Naruto nodded, not really knowing what the Hyuuga-Kumo affair was, but remembering how the attacks on him had stopped after that day.

“Do you still have Mr. Ukki?” Naruto asked, yawning slightly as he looked up at Kakashi.

“Yeah, I still have him. I watered him every day. He’s grown well over the past few years,” Kakashi lazily replied still playing with Naruto’s hair.

“Mm… I should come over sometime and add a watering seal to him,” Naruto drawled, barely awake then. Kakashi nodded and then smiled as he noticed the blonde had fallen asleep.

“Night,” he murmured before he too, drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Kakashi woke up to the arousing smell of breakfast. He sat up and saw a tray with a glass of orange juice and a plate of buttered toast. “Is this for me?” he asked, wondering when was the last time he had actually had breakfast in bed—or in this case, breakfast in a sleeping bag…

“Yeah!” Naruto replied in between bites of his own toast. “I didn’t add any powdered sugar or cinnamon on yours, because I know you don’t like sweet stuff.” Once again Kakashi questioned how Naruto had gotten his information about them, but quickly forgot his suspicions when he tasted the food.

“It was good,” Kakashi finally commented after he finished eating everything. Naruto perked up hearing his words of praise. Kakashi chuckled, he could almost imagine Naruto wagging a tail in delight. “It doesn’t look like they’re going to wake up any time soon,” Kakashi noted, checking their breathing patterns.

“Should we go back then?” Naruto asked as he finished clearing everything away.

“Yeah,” Kakashi got up off the ground and called out, “Vermillion-sama, we’re ready to leave now!” A pillar of flames erupted and from it, unfurled the Vermillion Bird from before.

“Where would you like me to—” the bird cut himself off and flew closer to Kakashi. “You actually look really good, for a mere mortal…” the ancient animal purred as it stepped closer to Kakashi.

 _Shit! I’m not wearing my mask!_ He had forgotten to put it back on yesterday as Naruto had barely any reaction to his face, so he didn’t remember he wasn’t wearing one today. “…As kind of you to notice,” Kakashi backed away and tugged up his mask, “we really should be getting back to Konoha. Can you drop us off at the Konoha Hospital?” _Seems like only my family isn’t affected by this face…_

The bird shook itself out of its trance and dipped its head down in embarrassment. “I will do as you wish,” it muttered and then the room was engulfed in a flash of blinding white light. When Kakashi could see again, he found himself in front of the hospital, his genin right next to him. Naruto was trying (and failing) to support both Sasuke and Sakura, who were leaning on him. Two nurses noticed them outside and wheeled out two wheelchairs. Kakashi helped check his two genin into the same room and then took Naruto with him to the Mission Desk.

“Ready to report the success of Team 7’s mission!” Kakashi clearly stated once he saw Hiruzen.

“How was your first C-rank, Naruto?” the Hokage asked his favorite orange genin. Naruto peeked out from behind where Kakashi placed him. He was relieved that they were back, they’d taken a lot longer on this mission than he’d thought they’d need.

“It was cool but sad…” Naruto frowned remembering Haku’s and Zabuza’s deaths. Hiruzen grimaced hearing that. He noticed Sakura and Sasuke weren’t there reporting with the rest of Team 7. _Don’t tell me they actually…_ While the Hokage’s thoughts shifted to a morbid place, Naruto interrupted and said, “But we buried Haku and Zabuza in front of the bridge, so their memorial will last forever.” Hiruzen sighed in relief. _So, his teammates are still alive…_ Just imagining what the council would’ve done if only Naruto survived, while the ‘last loyal Uchiha’ died made him shudder. _Wait… Zabuza? Why does that name sound so familiar?_

“Who were Haku and Zabuza,” Iruka asked Naruto curiously, from behind the desk.

“Iruka-sensei!” Naruto happily waved at Iruka, not noticing him there before.

“They were two ninjas from Kiri. Haku had ice release while Zabuza used to be a member of the Seven Swordsmen…” Kakashi winced, seeing the Hokage narrow his eyes at him.

“That would make this mission a B-rank, right?” Hiruzen tightly smiled.

“Actually…” Kakashi faltered slightly noticing Iruka glaring daggers at him. “Tazuna concealed that Wave was under the control of a man named Gato, so this mission was an A-rank…”

“Why did you continue the mission if it was an A-rank!” Iruka shouted, almost using his Big-head jutsu.

“Hey, it wasn’t Kaka-sensei’s fault,” Naruto piped up. Iruka and Hiruzen blinked. _Kaka-sensei?_ They thought together…

 _Since when did Kakashi allow anyone to call him by a nickname?_ Hiruzen wondered, while Iruka was jealous that Kakashi got a nickname before he did. _Why does the Masked-pervert get a nickname first? I was his sensei first and for way longer…_ Iruka pouted.

“Kaka-sensei sent Pakkun to Jiji after we defeated the Demon Brothers, and Jiji said it was okay to continue the mission. He didn’t know about Zabuza and Haku then and we couldn’t just leave Wave in the hands of Gato!” Naruto passionately exclaimed.

Hiruzen decided he’d just read Kakashi’s mission report later and not try to decipher the blonde’s ramblings. He cleared his throat and asked, “Then, where are young Sasuke and Sakura?”

“They’re in the hospital!” Naruto answered.

“Are they hurt?” Iruka fretted. He still saw the genin as his children even though they were out of the academy.

“Nope! They’re just meditating,” Naruto happily explained. The Hokage and Iruka looked at Kakashi for clarification.

“Two weeks after we freed Wave, we set off towards Whirlpool. There, Naruto felt a hidden place his ancestors left behind for their legacies. Only an Uzumaki was able to open the sanctuary and call upon a directional beast for entrance.”

“What? Directional beasts? You mean like the ones they use in sealing? They’re real?” Iruka asked in shock.

This time, Hiruzen answered. “Indeed, they are real. I believe I told Naruto about Genbu, the Black Tortoise. He lives off the shore of Kumo and is known as a moving island to the villagers. He has a temple on him that allows people to conquer their inner hatred… If I’m correct, since Whirlpool is in the South, the guardian deity you met must have been the Vermillion Bird?” Hiruzen asked, intrigued.

“Yes, as I heard about that place too, I allowed Team 7 to undergo the training at the Uzumaki’s hidden sanctuary,” Kakashi continued. “Naruto asked the Vermillion Bird to allow us entry, and the bird said when we were finished, it’d bring us back to Konoha. Sasuke and Sakura are still meditating, so I checked them into the hospital, so they don’t have to worry about food or water.”

“What about you and Naruto? Did you conquer your inner demons?” the Hokage leaned forward, waiting for an answer.

“Yup, Jiji! I finished first and then Kaka-sensei finished and we had dinner together. And after that Kaka-sensei let me see his face!” Naruto gestured widely with his hands. All the ninjas in the academy stopped and spun around to stare at Naruto when they heard him say the last part. Hiruzen’s eyebrows lifted at this. _He showed Naruto his face? Not even I have seen his face… He really treasures Naruto._ Iruka just gaped.

“He saw it!” a girl with hearts in her eyes squealed.

“The legendary masked Kakashi actually shared his secret with someone!” another ninja at the desk asked in disbelief.

“What do you think it was? Blimp lips? Buck-teeth? No nose?” another jounin asked, on his way back from turning in a report.

“I think its tentacles! That’s why he likes Icha Icha so much, it’s like reading about his family…” Everyone turned and looked at the last person who said this. “Hey, it makes sense. How else can he eat his food so fast without anyone noticing?” People nodded their head at this thought and Kakashi sweat-dropped. _What type of weird human-hybrid do they think I am?_  They then turned to Naruto with hungry eyes.

“Say, Naruto, why don’t you tell your Jiji how Kakashi’s face looks like? I’ll take you out for Ramen, if you whisper it to me,” the Hokage bribed.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, when Kakashi covered the blonde’s mouth with his hands. “I think we should be going to the hospital to check on the rest of our team… Don’t want to be late…” Kakashi insincerely eye-smiled and shunshined out of there with Naruto. Hiruzen and Iruka watched the puff of smoke and leaves settle down.

“Naruto really saw his face. I thought it was a prank, but Kakashi’s reaction,,,” Iruka trailed off in amazement. “He really cares about this team, doesn’t he?” Iruka asked Hiruzen who smiled widely.

“Yes. It seems like he’s finally found what he’s been searching for,” Hiruzen said mysteriously, confusing Iruka. _A family…_ Hiruzen thought as he saw in the distance a flailing blonde being carried by his silver-haired sensei into the hospital.

* * *

Fast Forward to the Fifth Meeting

“…And in Whirlpool we went to the Uzumaki’s hidden sanctuary where we had to mediate to find our inner selves. That’s why Sasuke and Sakura are in the hospital. They’re still in their meditative trances right now, but they should be waking up sometime later this week,” Naruto finished his story, winded from the huge explanation. He had left out the parts about Kurama and the Shinigami, but he’d mostly told the rest of what had happened. The other genin were silent, trying to digest that their blonde had just went on a dangerous mission without them to protect them.

Shikamaru furrowed his forehead in thought. He was sure the blonde left something out, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it…

“Does that mean Sasuke and Sakura are coming to our meetings from now on?” Kiba moaned, curling up his nose in distaste.

“Hey! They’re not so bad,” Naruto defended. “Sakura’s toned down on the whole Sasuke worship thing and Sasuke actually talks to us now. He even said that I was his best friend!” Naruto beamed, remembering how he got the stoic raven to laugh and admit the blonde was his best friend.

Shino pouted, not that it could be seen behind his huge jacket. “I wanted to be your best friend,” Shino sulkily stated, his Kikaichu buzzing, trying to comfort him.

Naruto looked at the glasses-wearing boy in shock. “Really?” he wondered.

Shino nodded and was about to respond, but was shoved aside by his impulsive teammate. “Hey! I’m his best friend,” Kiba puffed out his chest and pointed his thumb at himself.

“What about Akamaru?” Naruto asked in confusion. He could hardly believe that people wanted to be his friend, let alone his _best_ friend?!

“We’re a package deal! Two for one!” Kiba bragged as Akamaru yipped. The dog really wouldn’t mind being best friends with the blonde. He’d always fed him delicious treats when no one was looking and made his human happier.

“No way dog-breath! Keep your paws off of him! Naruto is going to be my best friend!” Ino waved her fist at Kiba who backed away slowly. “Right, Naruto? Us blondes have to stick together!” she winked at him. Naruto just blinked in confusion.

“Ahem,” Shikamaru coughed, feeling the need to stake his claim. “Choji and I have already become Naruto’s best friends back in the academy. We always went cloud-watching together, so Naruto is our best friend.”

Choji added, “Yeah, I shared my chips with Naruto, so he’s our best friend.”

“Yeah? Well I pulled pranks on people in the academy with Naruto,” Kiba retorted, forgetting about Ino. Naruto looked back and forth between the genin, wondering how this was going to turn out.

“Ano!” Hinata face turned red as everyone stared at her. “I-I would… like t-to be… Naruto’s best friend,” Hinata admitted, her voice growing fainter as she spoke. Naruto looked at Hinata and she blushed harder, swaying a little as she overloaded.

“Wow, looks like your popular today, Naruto,” Kakashi eye-smiled and walked up to the genin throwing his arm over Naruto’s shoulders possessively.

“Kaka-sensei!” Naruto blurted out in surprise. “What’re you doing here?”

“What, I can’t just come to see my cute little genin, because I missed you?” Kakashi asked, revealing his inner thoughts. “Just kidding,” he lied. “I came by to help you with the next step of your wind release. Let’s go to Training Ground #7.” He steered Naruto out of the restaurant.

“Huh? Okay, bye guys!” Naruto called over his shoulder and waved goodbye to the rest of the genin, who were glaring jealously at Kakashi for taking away _their_ blonde. _Kakashi…_ They thought together, murderously.

Kakashi looked back at the genin and mouthed, “I’m Naruto’s first friend.” And he wasn’t lying, really. He _was_ Naruto’s first friend. The fact that Naruto didn’t know he was back then, notwithstanding. And if the genin mistook his ‘first’ for ‘best’, who was he to correct them? He chuckled as he saw the rest of the genin’s jaws drop open at his words. He whistled merrily and walked to the training field with Naruto, happily training the rest of the day away.


	7. The Sixth Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Update! From now on, I'll release chapters as soon as I finish them instead of trying (and failing) a weekly release. This chapter sets things up for the Chunin Exams, which I finished writing the outline of, so it should be out soon (couple of days hopefully)... 
> 
> Haha, I'm sneakily updating this, instead of studying for my summer finals :) Hope you enjoy! Thanks for the comments, bookmarks, and kudos! 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

* * *

 

A Mission to get to the Root of Things

“So, they’ve found out about the seals after all,” a grizzled old man rubbed his chin with his one good arm. Standing up, he walked over to the stand labeled: DNA from the village. “This changes things,” he mused picking up a vial of blood and toying with it. He dropped the crystal vial and watched it shatter, the blood splattering across the floor. “Dispose of it,” he commanded a white masked figure who immediately bowed and followed his orders. “Rise,” he absentmindedly waved at the rest of his kneeling underlings. They stiffly straightened up at stood there waiting for their next command. “I wonder how they found out… No matter, I’ll send someone in to investigate. It’s a few years early, but this should work as well.” He surveyed the crowd, his eyes landing on a certain teen. “You, stay behind. Everyone else, leave!”

“As you will, Danzo-sama,” they droned and left the hall mechanically. The teen stilled and waited for the elderly man to approach him.

“I have a new mission for you. Recently, my surveillance on the new batch of clan heads has been discovered. I need you to ingratiate yourself with them and report their movements back to me. Aim for the carrier’s trust, he seems dim-witted enough to fool. Hiruzen won’t be expecting me to make my move so soon,” Danzo relayed, liking his idea more and more as he spoke. It was a pity that Hiruzen forbid him from training the Jinchuuriki. But that didn’t matter. Soon, everything would be within the palm of his hands.

* * *

 

A Chance Encounter in the Library

“Subject appears to be unaware of his surroundings. His gait is evenly-paced, suggesting the subject is not in a hurry nor stressed despite the civilians’ constant surveillance. Their furrowed brows and tensed postures indicate either hostility or confusion towards the subject. Considering their criticisms of the subject, hostility is more likely. Even after trailing the subject for fifteen minutes, he has yet to stop displaying his teeth in a manner most find to be pleasing,” a pale-faced man recorded into his headpiece as he followed a blonde genin down the street.

“Alright!” Naruto announced as he stood in front of the Konoha library. “Now, I just need to find those books Kaka-sensei wanted…” Shoving open the doors, he strolled into the library and headed to the “Recreational Reading” section. The lean, black-haired boy shadowed the blonde easily and continued his notes.

“Subject is browsing books that describe exotic human procreation habits, despite not showing interest in copulation other than a means to prank people, according to his file…”

“Not this one either,” Naruto groaned and replaced the book, picking up the next one. Kakashi had sent him away from the hospital on a scavenger hunt as more training. Normally he’d be stoked at the idea of more training, but picking out new porn for his sensei was not what he had in mind.

“Subject has stood in the same spot for exactly five minutes. Commencing the first part of the mission. Approaching the subject with a book specifically tailored to match both mine and his interests. As a conversation opener, it is important to find something in common to discuss with the target to put them at ease. According to the mission file, the subject enjoys playing practical jokes and wishes to become the Hokage. It can be concluded that a joke book catering to adults will interest him. Also, humor is the first step in understanding human nature. Similar to smiles, jokes can instinctually place people at ease,” he intoned into his device. The pale-faced black-haired man clutched A Guide to Humor: 101 Adult Jokes to Make Anyone Laugh and silently approached the blonde. He sidled up to Naruto’s side and said, “Hello, I couldn’t help but notice that you were interested in the procreation habits of mammals. I am too! Would you like to look up other methods of reproduction with me? I’ve heard Humans: A Guide to Understanding Yourself was a good read.” He then faked a smile and waited for Naruto to respond.

The blonde stared at the other boy, not comprehending what was going on. _Did I just get propositioned?_ Naruto thought in disbelief. He had been sorting out his memories from the clones in the females-only classes at the academy when he came across this word. He wasn’t really sure what they were talking about, but he knew that when a guy asked to procreate it meant that they were propositioning the other person, and from what he’d heard, procreation didn’t sound that fun anyways… Getting taken to a room, drugged, and then stripped of all his belongings wasn’t his idea of having a good day.

 _The subject seems to not have heard my opening statement._ The man mentally noted and spoke up again, taking a different approach this time. “I heard you were good at pranks. I’ve been meaning to get back at my landlord. Would you help me take revenge? I even have this book here we can use!” He held up the book and tried to insert eagerness in his voice.

Naruto turned to look at the other boy, tilting his head. _I must have heard wrong before…_ He dismissed his misgivings and looked at the book and laughed. “You’re not going to get anywhere with that book,” Naruto snickered seeing that the author of the book was Kiba Inuzuka. He didn’t think Kiba would actually write a book when he’d dared him to back at the academy! Finally composing himself, he asked, “Why do you want to get back at your landlord anyways? And what’s your name by the way? Mine’s Naruto!”

“Hello, Naruto. I am Sai,” he told him the name Danzo had assigned him. “I wish to get back at my landlord because he kicked me out of my apartment for not paying the rent this month and now I have nowhere to go,” Sai told the blonde his fabricated backstory.

“Ohhhh,” Naruto nodded in understanding, putting back the book he picked out from earlier. “Why don’t you just stay with your parents?” he asked.

“I have no parents, I do have a brother, but he’s gone now, so I’m on my own. And the orphanage kicked me out once I became a ninja, so I can’t rely on them,” Sai explained a concocted past that was half-truth and half-lie. His backstory was similar to that of the genin standing in front of him to purposefully evoke the Jinchuuriki’s sympathetic feelings and make it easier to slip into his group undetected. Already, he could see the blonde looking at him in compassion.

“Wait! Does that mean you don’t have anywhere to live right now?” Naruto asked, concerned. He knew what it was like to be homeless after being kicked out of the orphanage. He was surprised that this stranger had so much in common with him.

Sai nodded silently, waiting to see what the blonde would do before planning out his next actions. According to the file, Naruto should take him to the Hokage or to Iruka-sensei, his family figures. This would give him a chance to add credibility to his story and forgo any in-depth background checks. Danzo had already taken measures to make his backstory appear real, so he wasn’t in any danger of being found out.

“Then you can stay with me,” Naruto resolutely decided. Sai’s face twitched, not expecting this outcome but welcoming it nevertheless. It would be easier to watch the boy if he lived with him.

“Okay,” Sai agreed, faking a smile. Naruto beamed back at him, and he felt something churn in his gut. _Note to self: Lay off the Dango, it doesn’t agree well with my physiology._ He thought as he was dragged away from the library by the blonde who’d already forgotten about his mission.

* * *

 

At Ichiraku’s Ramen

Ino banged her head on the table and turned her head to the side, blowing on her bangs. Shikamaru stared at her before averting his eyes, deciding not to get involved. Choji just ignored her antics and continued munching on his chips. “That’s it!” Ino jumped up, startling Team 8 who had just entered the stand. “Let’s go see Team 7 in the hospital, it’s not the same without Naruto here…” She dragged Shikamaru away, Choji following behind her. Team 8 looked at each other and shrugged, deciding to just follow Ino.

“Pease,” Shikamaru scoffed. “You just want to visit Sasuke,” he muttered.

Ino’s face reddened and she shouted, “Shut up, Shika!”

“Don’t call me that, troublesome woman!” Shikamaru said back, annoyed. Ino huffed. The rest of the genin watched the two teammates bicker.

“Are they always like that?” Kiba asked Choji who was eating his chips, unaffected by the fight.

“Crunch… Ya, they’re always -crunch- like that,” he said in between bites.

“And it doesn’t bother you at all?” Kiba asked in disbelief. He couldn’t imagine having to be on a team with Ino. That shrieking… He shuddered and silently thanked whoever made these teams for putting him with Shino and Hinata. Though they were weird, they also were very very quiet.

“You get used to it,” Choji shrugged as he followed after them.

Kiba just shook his head again, and hurried up as he heard Ino shout, “Hurry up! Visiting hours close soon!” The rest of the genin sped up, heading towards the hospital, none of them wanting to have to wait until tomorrow to see Team 7.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Naruto stood with Sai in front of his apartment complex. “Are you ready? Do you have all your stuff with you?” he fretted like a certain mother hen from the academy. Sai nodded and gestured to the seals on his arms. “Alright, let’s go talk to my landlord,” Naruto said and pushed open the door. He wasn’t really sure about what to think of the other boy. Although it was an impulse decision to let him stay with him, and probably not the safest idea considering they both were shinobi, he couldn’t help it. The other boy reminded Naruto of his darker self and he didn’t want to leave him alone…

 _I hope you know what you’re doing, Kit._ Kurama grumbled in the back of his head.

 _It’ll be fine,_ Naruto reassured. He had a haunch that everything would work out. _Besides you said he didn’t have any negative emotions directed towards me, so he won’t hurt me._

 _Yeah,_ Kurama grudgingly agreed. He couldn’t find anything to nitpick at, but something just felt off about the other boy. Something almost artificial… _If you’re sure…_

 _I am,_ Naruto replied firmly and Kurama nodded before going back to sleep. They’d reached the building’s office and it looked like the owner was in today. He held the door open for Sai, and walked in behind him.

“What do _you_ want?” the landlord asked in disgust, saying “you” in the same tone he used to talk about rotting garbage.

“He’s moving in with me,” Naruto jerked a thumb at Sai as the pudgy man fumed. He’d never wanted the blonde to stay there in the first place, but he couldn’t evict him unless the Hokage allowed him to. He glowered at the thought of one of the loudmouth’s friends staying with him and not paying rent, when a thought struck him. He smiled maliciously. He might not be able to kick the blonde out, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make things harder for him.

“Sorry,” he grinned his ugly yellow teeth. “But he can’t stay with you. Your contract states that only _family_ members can stay with you, not friends. And well, you’re an orphan so…” He shrugged, feigning indifference.

“But that’s not fair!” Naruto yelled, biting back an insult. He knew from past experiences, that those didn’t help in these types of situations.

“Tough luck, brat,” he greasily smiled as Naruto glared at him.

“That’s okay, Naruto. I’m sure I can find somewhere else to stay. Thank you for the offer,” Sai said as he saw this wasn’t getting anywhere. It was a pity he couldn’t stay with the blonde, but that wouldn’t stop him from completing his mission. He figured the missed opportunity was why he felt bad right now.

“What? But…” Naruto trailed off as he saw the pained smile Sai was giving him. He couldn’t just let this happen. It just wasn’t fair! But what could he do? He looked back at Sai and noticed him tracing the storage seal on his hand. _Wait! That could actually work!_ “Sai _is_ part of my family,” he watched his landlord’s face turn puce in anger.

“No, he isn’t, you’re an orphan! No way-” the landlord yelled.

Naruto calmly cut him off. “Sai might not be blood-related to me, but he’s still part of my family. As the last member of my clan in Konoha, I’m the clan head and I accepted Sai into my clan as he’s a promising orphan. And according to the charter, that makes Sai a part of my family!” he gloated as he restated the things he read about. Who knew reading that boring treaty actually came in handy! He’d have to thank Iruka-sensei later.

“You… you…” the landlord gripped the few wisps of hair he still had on his head and tried to think of a way to retort but was unable to come up with anything. He knew how protective the clans were when someone tried to threaten their rights and that he couldn’t deny the brat’s friend if he wanted to continue living in Konoha.

“So, can he stay?” Naruto grinned cheekily at him. Sai just watched, silently noting that middle-aged civilians appeared to change face colors in anger.

“Get out!” the landlord bellowed, not denying that Sai could stay.

“Fine,” Naruto huffed and pulled Sai up to his room. Once he shut the door behind him and made sure it was locked, he turned towards Sai. “It’s not much, but you can stay here. I’ve got an extra blow-up mattress in my room,” Naruto pointed at a door behind him. “Just in case of a sleepover, not that it ever happened…” he muttered the last part under his breath. “So, what do you think?” he asked, strangely nervous.

Sai stayed silent, trying to think of a response that would make sense. _It’s cleaner than I expected. According to the file, there shouldn’t be as many books strewn about…_ As he was inspecting his surroundings, he forgot to answer.

Naruto took the silence, as hesitation. “Oh, you must be wondering about what I said back in the office…” He rubbed his nose sheepishly. “I just said that you were part of my clan so you could stay here. You don’t have to be part of it, if you don’t want too…” He looked up at the ceiling.

“No, that— I’d like it. To be part of your clan, I mean,” Sai answered hurriedly. Surprisingly, he actually meant it. He wanted to be part of this boy’s clan, part of a family again. It’d been so long, since he’d last had a brother… But, no, he was doing this for a mission. _Right, I’m joining his family to report his movements back to Danzo-sama. It’s more… convenient this way._ He tried to justify his actions.

“Really?” Naruto said eagerly. “That’s great!” he whooped when he saw Sai nod his head. “We gotta do the ceremony and stuff!” he bounced on his heels and picked a book up of the table. Flipping it to a page, he shoved it at Sai and spoke again. “I have to ask you if you want to join and then you have to read this chant,” he pointed at the book. “And then I just have to check you for any seals and give you a gift!” he babbled excitedly. He never expected he’d actually ever be able to do this! Although he’d learned about this ceremony, just in case, it was a whole another thing to actually do it.

Sai glanced at the book open in front of him, and said, “I’m ready.”

Naruto nervously wiped his palms on his jumpsuit and began the ceremony. “Do you want to join the Uzumaki Clan headed by me? Upholding its principles listed in the book?”

Sai replied, “Yes. I’d like to join the Uzumaki Clan led by Naruto Uzumaki.” He then began reading the rest of the statements of the book. “To protect and love. To not fight in blind hatred. To always help friends and family when they’re in trouble. To lead the next generation by upholding our values and by protecting peacefully. To go against the swirling currents and to combine against and danger, unleashing a maelstrom on our enemies!” With each word he read, Sai noted how different the Uzumaki Clan’s ideologies were from Danzo’s. It would be strange following these two dogmas that opposed each other. But as he was a sworn-in member of the clan, he needed to uphold its principles. At least on the surface, anyways…

Naruto clapped his hands together when Sai finished and gestured for him to step forwards. “Okay, I’m going to scan you now!” He held his hands in front of Sai and concentrated. The pale-faced boy watched the blonde frown. “You have four storage seals, two on your arms and two in your pockets and… There’s a weird seal in your mouth.” Naruto opened his eyes. “Hey, stick out your tongue,” Naruto’s forehead wrinkled in thought. Sai obediently stuck out his tongue. He didn’t think an amateur seal beginner would be able to unravel Danzo’s work. “Who put this on you? It sucks…” Naruto frowned and continued. “It’s an old seal used by Root to make someone not able to talk about certain things. Why would someone put it on you?” He asked curiously.

“Ah, I think an enemy-nin put it on me when I was on a mission… I didn’t know about it,” he lied through his teeth, surprised that Naruto was able to decipher the seal.

“Oh, that makes sense. Here, I’ll remove it for you,” he stuck his hand out and released the seal before Sai could even think to stop him. “There, now you have nothing to worry about,” Naruto hummed, proud of his fast work. Sai didn’t really know how to feel about this. That seal had been hanging over his head ever since he was old enough to go on missions. It felt… strange to have the freedom to do whatever he wanted and not have to worry about it.

“Thanks,” Sai said and used his customary fake smile.

“Your welcome!” Naruto grinned at the other boy. “Come on, let me give you a tour of the house,” he said, dragging the other boy behind him.

 _This mission is more interesting than I thought it would be…_ Sai thought before he gave in and followed the blonde around the house, ignoring the warmth he felt spreading through him.

* * *

 

Back at the Hospital

 _What’s taking him so long?_ Kakashi thought as he looked up from his Icha Icha. Sasuke skillfully was ignoring Sakura’s chatter as he finished off the tomatoes Naruto brought him. Both genin had woken up last night, but they still had to stay in the hospital for the rest of this week to see if there were any adverse effects on them. Luckily it was already Saturday, so they only had to stay until tomorrow morning. Although Sasuke woke up first, he said that his confrontation was postponed for later. It made sense he couldn’t let go just yet, considering his brother murdered his whole family in front of him. Kakashi didn’t know what Sasuke had seen in his mind, but he noticed that Sasuke seemed more pensive and that there was a determined glint in his eyes. Sakura, on the other hand, had awoken two hours after Sasuke had. After meeting her ‘inner self’, whatever that meant, she’d become more motivated to build up her physical body. If she didn’t want to hold back the others on her team, she’d have to work hard on her stamina. Kakashi looked up from his book, when he heard a knock on the door. _That must be Naruto…_

Kakashi opened the door, and stepped back in surprise when he saw it was the rest of the genin. “Hello, Kakashi-san. Is Naruto-kun here? And have Sakura-san and Sasuke-san awaken yet?” Hinata asked, when no one else spoke up.

Kakashi ran his hand through his spiky gravity-defying hair, ignoring the glares the rest of the genin sent him, and answered, “Ah, Naru-chan is out on a mission.” He eye-smiled, purposely using the nickname to annoy them. “But Sasuke and Sakura are awake right now.” He moved aside, letting the genin enter.

“As if, sensei! You just sent him to get your porn!” Sakura scoffed and crossed her hands. Kakashi looked away from the genin whose hostile looks had strengthened.

“Maa maa, Sakura-chan, you’re going to hurt sensei’s feelings,” Kakashi said as he edged his way towards the window. “I’ll go and find our wayward teammate, while the rest of you talk,” he eye-smiled at them again for good measure, and left though the window.

The genin shuffled around awkwardly until Sakura broke the silence, “So, what’s up?”

“Nothing much. We were just bored, so we came by to see how you guys were doing. How’s it feel, Billboard-brow? Sasuke-kun?” Ino asked the last part with little hearts in her eyes.

 _Shit not another one._ Sasuke thought, as Sakura replied, “I’m feeling fine, Ino-pig! What about you?”

“Just fine,” Ino answered through gritted teeth as they both fake-smiled at each other, until Ino dropped the grimace. “No, but seriously, how do you feel?” she asked, frowning. “You both were out for about three days, and from what I heard your trip to Wave was more than eventful.” Although their friendship had died, Sakura _was_ still her first friend.

“Yes, how are you feeling Sakura-san? Naruto-kun was very worried about you both. He barely left the hospital room, while he waited for you both to wake up. Kakashi-san had to force him to go home to get some sleep,” Hinata joined the conversation.

“You’re lucky. He really cares for your team,” Ino said seriously.

“I know,” Sakura said, remembering how the first thing she saw when she woke up was a pair of deep blue eyes staring at her in concern which quickly changed into joy when he noticed she was awake. “I have to get stronger to protect them,” she mumbled, clenching her fists together. Ino and Hinata exchanged glances, before looking back at Sakura’s burning eyes.

“You could join us… To train, I mean. Hinata and I have been practicing together to keep up with our teams,” Ino offered hesitantly.

Sakura struggled with what to say, before noticing the sincere look in Ino’s eyes. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that. That sounds nice,” she smiled at the other girls, watching the tension drain out of their shoulders.

“Great!” Ino grinned at Sakura before cockily saying, “But don’t think you can win! I’ll beat you down, Billboard-brow!”

“You’re going down, Ino-pig!” Sakura teased back.

“Ano, sorry, but actually we all know that I’m going to win,” Hinata’s timid voice drifted forward, surprising the other two girls. They looked at each other wide-eyed, before they all succumbed to giggles.

Meanwhile, at Sasuke’s bed, the boys were talking about other matters. “And other than the poison from the Demon Brothers, I think Haku hurt him with a few senbon. The only other injury I can think of would be when he gave Sakura nearly all of his chakra to power up her gauntlets. He tried to make us believe it was no big deal, but he slept all the way to Whirlpool. He definitely had chakra exhaustion, not that he’d ever admit it out loud…” Sasuke said.

Shikamaru snorted, “Yeah, he’s a troublesome, stubborn blonde, but he wouldn’t be Naruto if he wasn’t.”

“He’s reckless too,” Sasuke added. “He didn’t tell us anything and just jumped off a cliff with no warning,” Sasuke complained.

“What? He didn’t tell us about cliff diving! He said you guys went to Whirlpool to unlock his bloodline or something!” Kiba exclaimed. Shino shifted closer to the group, wanting to hear about his new friend’s exploits.

“Yeah, well, what he didn’t tell you was that we had to jump off the highest cliff into a whirlpool just to get to the place. And there was this huge fiery bird that let us into the place. I’m still not really sure what actually happened…” Sasuke trailed off, lost in his memories.

“You sure you guys didn’t eat any bad mushrooms while you were there?” Choji asked in suspicion.

Sasuke ignored his question and continued eating his tomatoes. Pinching one between his fingers, he stared at Shikamaru. “Why?”

“Why what?” Shikamaru answered in confusion.

“Why do you care so much about Naruto?” Sasuke clarified. “He’s not _your_ teammate,” he stressed.

“No, he’s not,” the pineapple-haired boy agreed. “He’s my _friend_ , something way closer than a teammate…” Sasuke just stared at the other, waiting for an answer. Shikamaru sighed. “You know, when I was younger I once asked my dad why everyone didn’t use shadow clones. Although they have a high chakra cost, jounin should still be able to make one or two when they’re not fighting.” Sasuke nodded, not really understanding what this story had to do with Naruto. Sure, the blonde used a lot of shadow clones, but why did that matter? “Well, my dad said that although shadow clones are helpful, they had a nasty side effect. When the clone pops, the one who made it gets all its memories,” Shikamaru continued. Still not understanding, Sasuke just waited for Shikamaru to explain. “And I thought, wow, that’d really help with spying reports. So, I told him. And you know what he said? He laughed and told me that when he said all memories, he literally meant _all_ the memories, including those of dying. And that he didn’t know about me, but he wasn’t itching to experience death just to have another helper…” Shikamaru waited for this to sink in.

Sasuke dropped his tomato. He pushed the rest away, not feeling hungry anymore, if the twisting in his gut was anything to go by. “But, he makes hundreds of them…”

“Yeah, we know. We’ve trained with him before,” Kiba cut in, staring Sasuke straight in the eye. “That’s why we’re willing to go so far for him. Because he’s willing to die over and over again just to help us train, protecting us and helping us get stronger. He literally throws his life away for us at the drop of a hand.”

“A bright smile on his face as he does so,” Shino added.

“He’s going to be the Hokage one day, I know it. And we’re going to be right by his side as it happens. What about you?” Shikamaru quirked his eyebrow at Sasuke, while the other two looked at Sasuke with intense looks.

“I…” Sasuke swallowed. He wanted to agree, but the works his inner self told him, echoed in his head.

“Naruto really cares for his team, you know. He spent ages making that picnic for you both. So, it really hurt him, when you threw it back in his face,” Choji spoke matter-of-factly. “We don’t want another thing like that to happen, so, we need to know, can we trust you with him?” Surprised that the larger boy had spoken up, Sasuke looked up and met his burning gaze. “To not hurt him, to be there for him, even if it’s only as a teammate?”

“Yeah, I-I can do that much at least,” Sasuke muttered the last part, ignoring the mocking words of his inner self. He met their gazes and repeated sternly, “Yes, I’ll protect him as I would any other teammate.” The words _and as a friend_ were unspoken, but conveyed nonetheless.

“Good,” Shikamaru said, sitting down. _It seems like Naruto was right, Sasuke’s really changed. He actually cares for his teammates now. Much better than the cold indifference he had back at the academy…_ “Now, that that’s out of the way. We have another important matter to discuss.” Sasuke tensed up slightly. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was really important. “We heard that you said Naruto was your best friend?” The genin turned their shark-like gazes towards Sasuke who just slumped over the table and groaned.

 _Dobe, what’re you telling people?_ He thought as he avoided the other boys. _He’s not getting back at me, is he? Setting these overprotective dogs on me by revealing I’m his best friend. Does he really want me to live?_ Sasuke couldn’t help but thinking and sweat-dropped when he noticed the other genin were serious. “About that…” Sasuke tried to think of something to say, when the door flew open and Kakashi walked in with Naruto slung over his shoulder.

“Found him!” Kakashi eye-smiled and dropped Naruto on the bed next to Sasuke who scooched over a little. “He forgot about his mission and went to see Iruka,” Kakashi pouted slightly.

“That wasn’t a mission, pervert-sensei!” Sakura shouted out, noticing Kakashi was back.

“It was an information-gathering mission,” Kakashi corrected and then slumped down. “Why can’t you call me Kaka-sensei like Naruto does. Pervert-sensei is such a horrible nickname,” Kakashi grumbled.

“We call it like we see it,” Sasuke deadpanned, relieved that Kakashi’s entrance had distracted the other genin. It was surprising to see them focus their glares on Kakashi, but as long as it wasn’t him, he didn’t care anymore.

“What were you doing there, Naruto?” Hinata asked, attracting the others’ attention.

“Yeah, what took so long?” Ino wondered.

“Oh, I was asking Iruka-sensei about how to make my clan legal again in Konoha,” Naruto snuck some food off of Sasuke’s bedside table and ate it. “He said I was all set and I just needed to register the members of it with Jiji and declare it at a clan head meeting. I asked him if he wanted to be part of it, but he said that he had to remain unaffiliated because he was an academy teacher.” Naruto pouted. “That’s a stupid rule, I’m going to change it when I become Hokage!” he proclaimed, puffing out his chest.

“Hn, sure you will,” Sasuke smirked at Naruto. “Why are you finalizing your plans now anyways?”

“I needed to get it done because my landlord’s being stupid,” Naruto groaned. “Actually, that reminds me, Sakura-chan, wanna join my clan?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“Me?” Sakura asked, taken aback. She was surprised Naruto wanted her to join after the way she had treated him. Her inner self had forcefully pried open her eyes to reality.

“Yeah, you can’t just let everyone join your clan,” Ino pointed out.

“Why not?” Naruto pouted. “Sakura-chan is awesome! And you guys already have clans, so I can’t ask you to join!”

“Hmm, I don’t know, what would it mean?” Sakura asked. She didn’t mind joining a clan and Naruto was cool… Most of the time.

“You’d get special privileges like being able to leave the village whenever you want and more holidays! Plus, you’d get to sit in on clan head meetings with me. You’re smart so you won’t let them take advantage of us,” Naruto said, telling her the real reason he wanted her to join. “Oh, and you’d get discounts on seals,” he added as an afterthought.

“Where do I sign up?” Sakura immediately inquired. After the mission, she’d seen what seals could really do and how useful they were. So, when she got back to the village, she asked a few shops about how much they cost before giving up on them. Although she’d wanted to buy them, they were just way too expensive!

“Yes! Second member, get!” Naruto fist pumped the air. The other genin watching him smiled, figuring he counted himself as the other member. “Okay, now I just have to ask you if you want to join, and then you have to read out something from a book. And then I check if you have any seals on you, and finally I give you a present for joining! Oh, and you can live at the clan compound if you want. Right now, it’s just my apartment, but in the future, I’ll get an actual house!” Naruto grinned at Sakura.

“Alright!” Sakura agreed. For now, she’ll continue living with her parents, but in the future, she might just join her blonde teammate. _Either that or get my own house on the clan compound…_

“Now I get to register two people! Ha, Jiji will never believe it,” he gloated. “You have to come to the next clan head meeting with me,” Naruto pleaded with his big blue eyes.

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” she answered, wondering what she’d gotten herself roped into. Kakashi made a note to sit in on the next clan head meeting. It was going to be a public one this time, so there would be civilians sitting in. _This will be interesting…_

“Are you coming too, Sasuke? It’s tomorrow afternoon…” Naruto turned towards Sasuke, who nodded after a moment, figuring his whole team was going to be there, so why not?

“Aw, no fair! I want to come too!” Kiba complained.

“Why don’t you just ask your mother to let you come?” Shino suggested, already making plans to accompany his father.

“Yeah! That’s a great idea,” Kiba perked up.

“In that case, I’m coming too!” Ino piped up and then looked expectantly at Shikamaru and Choji.

“Do you even have to ask?” Shikamaru shot her a dirty look and rolled his eyes. “Women…” he muttered under his breath. Of course, he was coming! As if he could leave these troublesome blondes alone…

“I-I’ll be there too!” Hinata made up her mind to gather her nerves and ask her father to come. He shouldn’t protest too hard. After all, she was the next clan head by birth. Maybe she’d even get him to bring along Neji and ask Naruto to remove the seal!

“Cool!” Naruto chirped and Hinata blushed. “I guess this will be our meeting for the week, huh?” he grinned at the genin in the room.

“Meeting?” Sasuke asked.

“Yeah, we get together every week and train or just hang out. We also tell each other about our missions and stuff,” Naruto explained. He rubbed the back of his head and then added, “I asked you guys if you wanted to come, but you didn’t seem that interested…” Sakura blushed in shame. She remembered the one-time Naruto invited her out after the genin exams. She’d thought it was a date and had rejected him mercilessly. To find out now that it was actually a get together with the rest of the genin, it was mortifying!

“Oh, in that case, I’ll be glad to join these _meetings_ from now on,” Sasuke spoke up. He was beginning to see the benefit of working together with people. _It’s not like I want to check up on Naruto’s new friends or anything… This, is just to help me track Itachi by using their connections, yeah._

“I’ll come too!” Sakura hurriedly joined in, not wanting to be left behind by her teammates.

“Great, we’ll see you there then!” Ino excitedly said.

“Maybe I should come too~” Kakashi eye-smiled at them.

“Sorry, no adults allowed,” Shikamaru lied blatantly, not wanting Kakashi to spend more time with their blonde.

“Yup, you’re way too old to come! Your hair’s already white!” Kiba added in.

“I heard he was a Chunin back when the Third was Hokage for the first time. Who knows how old he is with his mask on,” Ino gossiped with Sakura.

“Yeah, he won’t show us what’s under his mask,” Sakura pouted.

“I’ve seen under it,” Naruto casually admitted. Noticing the other genin staring at him, he explained, “It was back in Wave when you two were still knocked out. Kaka-sensei removed his mask for me before we slept together…” He trailed off, remembering Kakashi’s face. “Sensei’s really good looking!”

This caused the genin to glower even harder at Kakashi, who just hid behind his orange book. _Why are the other genin so un-cute? They’re nothing like mine…_ Kakashi griped in his head. They were about to move towards Kakashi, when a nurse came in.

“Visiting hours are over. Kindly escort yourselves out. Team 7 will be able to leave observation tomorrow morning,” she said. _Yeah, leave us! Then I can have my cute little genin all to myself!_ Kakashi thought with glee.

“Okay, see you later Naruto!” Choji waved at him and pulled Ino away with him. He nodded at Sasuke and Sakura as he left the room.

“Yeah I’ll see you guys at tomorrow’s meeting!” Naruto yelled back, watching Ino and Shikamaru wave back at him.

“Team 8 is out! See you tomorrow!” Kiba yelled as he pushed the door open.

“Bye!” Hinata called out before leaving with Shino who just waved goodbye, leaving Team 7 alone in the room. They remained silent, before Sakura spoke up.

“So, sensei, what’s this about letting Naruto see your face alone?” Sakura fake smiled at him, causing Kakashi to twitch.

“Ah, it wasn’t like that, Sakura-chan,” Kakashi backpaddled and avoided looking at her glare.

“Yeah, why did he get to see your face first sensei?” Sasuke pressed on.

“Alright, I’ll let you two see my face too, but only on one condition!”

“Yes?” Sasuke and Sakura leaned in as Naruto watched on, curious.

“You have to… call me Kaka-sensei from now on!” he spoke dramatically.

“Tch, pervert-sensei,” Sakura said, dissatisfied, but relented. Sasuke grunted his agreement. They watched closely as Kakashi hooked his fingers around his masks and tugged them down.

“Sensei, you…” Sakura couldn’t say anything else. Sasuke’s eyes widened, seeing Kakashi’s unmasked face. It was too… He couldn’t describe it. Naruto watched his teammates stare at Kakashi, scared to see their eyes turning into hearts.

“They’ve been infected!” Naruto hissed at Kakashi who noticed his students’ faces matching those of his fans. _Shit, I forgot to tell them to not fall in love with me…_ He hurriedly raised his mask up, relieved to see the hearts in their eyes diminish.

“What just happened?” Sakura blinked out of her stupor. Sasuke tried to remember the last few minutes, but could only remember a blur. Naruto and Kakashi glanced at each other before silently agreeing to not tell the other two what just happened.

“Nothing,” Naruto lied and tried to distract them. “Hey, Sakura I found my book, want to join our clan now?” Sakura nodded excitedly, but couldn’t help but feel she was missing something. Sasuke watched the proceedings in interest.

“I thought only family members could be part of a clan?” he asked Kakashi as Sakura began reading out the words in the book.

“That would be the case for clans in Konoha, but the Uzumaki clan is a special case. They actually are from Whirlpool so they have a different treaty with Konoha and can invite whoever they want into their clan on the basis of rebuilding their village. Even members of other clans if they wished…” Kakashi explained. Sasuke filed away that piece of information for later. He looked up to see Naruto scanning Sakura for any seals.

“You just have an old toddler tracking seal made by your parents, but it’s unraveling so I don’t have to do anything to it. Ino had one too, I think,” Naruto said.

“Yeah, our parents put them on us together. We used to hang out at the park a lot when we were younger,” Sakura reminisced as she rubbed the disintegrating seal on her shoulder.

“Welcome to the clan!” Naruto grinned at her and placed a small box on her lap

“What’s this?” Sakura asked as she unwrapped the gift.

“It’s a joining gift. Well, I would’ve given to you anyways even if you didn’t want to join because they’re yours. I just upgraded them. They should be harder to destroy now,” Naruto explained.

“Thanks,” Sakura choked up, giving Naruto a big hug. She didn’t know what she did to deserve this, but she knew she’d have to get stronger. Her inner self was right, no more sticking to only books! From now on, she was going to run around the village like those green people she saw in the morning. Nothing was going to stop her from getting strong enough to protect her team. She’d even wear the green spandex if she had too! Kakashi shuddered. He felt as though one of his genin was slipping into the Gai-way of life.

“Hey, why don’t you scan Sasuke now for any seals too, just in case,” Kakashi hurriedly distracted his genin, trying to remove any Gai-like thoughts from their minds.

“Okay,” Naruto agreed and walked over to Sasuke, his hands held up high. “You don’t have any seals on you, other than the weird one your using on your eyes. Did you get it off a history book somewhere?”

“No, my father passed it down to me before…” Sasuke trailed of, tracing the invisible seals on his eyelids.

“You should stop using them,” Naruto bluntly said. Seeing Sasuke about to protest, he explained, “I have records of this seal in my clan history book. It’s unfinished, I’ll give you the finished version. This one isn’t as good, I think it makes you more vulnerable to trauma…”

“Okay,” Sasuke agreed. A finished version was always better than an incomplete version, right? Plus, this was Naruto, he wouldn’t hurt him. Sasuke trusted the blonde.

Kakashi watched his genin interact, with a smile on his face. Looking at the time, he offed the light. “It’s time to sleep, you don’t want to be late to tomorrow’s meeting,” he reminded them.

“As if you can say that,” Sakura retorted before yawning. “Goodnight!”

“Yeah, night,” Naruto mumbled.

“Hnn,” Sasuke grunted.

“Sleep tight,” Kakashi whispered as he left the room. He still wanted to get Naruto’s medical reports today before he went to sleep. Still tomorrow was going to be interesting. He couldn’t wait to see what those old ones on the council would do… If they tried anything… His eye glinted. They’ll definitely regret it! His creepy laugh echoed in the hallway, causing people to wonder if someone had escaped from the prison. No one, except for Team 7, slept well in the hospital that night.

* * *

 

Hokage’s Mission Assignment Desk

Naruto sat down in the front row next to Sasuke and Sakura, craning his head to look behind him. “Wow, there’s a lot of people here,” he stared at the huge crowd sitting in the foldable chairs set up on the usually empty pavilion.

“Normally, there aren’t this many people,” Sakura explained to her teammates. “But someone heard that Sasuke was going to take his position as Clan Head today so they all came.” Sasuke frowned hearing this. He’d only come for his team, not for some random civilians to stare at him all day.

Naruto, sensing Sasuke’s discomfort, patted his back. “Don’t worry, we won’t let the scary villagers get to you,” he said in joking voice. Sasuke snorted, but relaxed, ignoring the villagers.

“Looks like everyone’s already here,” Hiruzen said from the head of the mission desk table, quieting everyone down. Turning over to Koharu Utatane, who was sitting on his right, he asked her, “Will you take the attendance, Koharu? We have new members today!” He rubbed his hands together in excitement. Usually, new members entered in private meetings, not the public meetings, so this was very different! _But what can you expect from Naruto? He has the guts to paint the Hokage Monument in bright orange clothing, why would a public meeting stop him from claiming his position as clan head? And he dragged young Sasuke to following his footsteps! How exciting!_ He smiled and handed Koharu a list of all the registered clans in Konoha. Koharu sighed but still took the attendance sheet from Hiruzen.

“Aburame Clan?” she read off.

“Present with heir in attendance,” Shibi’s quiet voice drifted. Shino’s bugs buzzed in greeting. Koharu nodded and checked them off, noting the extra presence.

“Akimichi Clan?”

“Here with my son!” Choza’s booming voice filled the room as he patted Choji’s back hard, causing him to choke on his chips. Danzo raised his one eyebrow, wondering why the next generation genin were all present. _Must be because of the Uchiha heir…_

Koharu placed another two checkmarks on the register and called out the next name, “Hatake Clan?”

A lazy voice called out, “Yo!” Kakashi waved a hand in greeting. Everyone’s eyes popped out when they saw him there. No one could believe he’d actually shown up on time for a meeting. The last time he’d done this was when Icha Icha was about to be banned. They shivered, something bad must be happening today…

Homura Mitokado frowned, wondering why the perpetually late masked jounin had come today. He usually only came to clan head meetings if something interesting was going to happen, and that too, he’d only show up at least an hour after the meeting began. With the next generation of clan heads in attendance, it couldn’t be anything good. He narrowed his eyes.

“Hoki Family” Koharu’s crisp voice echoed across the still silent crowd.

“They’re in Suna with extended family… They won’t be coming back until after the Chunin Exams,” Hiruzen spoke up when no one answered.

Koharu pursed her lips and went to the next name, “Hyuuga Clan?”

“Present with first born child,” Hiashi said, not referring to Hinata as the heiress. Although she’d been doing better in spars against him lately, she still refused to practice with Hanabi so the elders didn’t know who would be more qualified for the position as clan head. They were pushing for Hanabi as she’d shown a more aggressive nature than Hinata had thus far.

“Inuzuka Clan?”

“Here with my pup in tow. He said he wanted to come today. Don’t know why, it’s not like we’ll be doing anything fun here… There must be something wrong with this one,” Tsume shook her head at Kiba.

“Hey!” Kiba protested but was ignored.

Marking them off, she read the next clan off the list, “Kohaku Clan?”

“Their ambassador had to return back to their village. Something came up,” Hiruzen interjected.

Koharu nodded. “Kurama Clan?” Naruto perked up when he heard Kurama’s name. _Hey, do you know them?_ He thought to Kurama.

_No—Wait, actually, I think I do know them! A long time ago, when I was roaming the world in human form for the first time, I’d come across a group of nomads cooking dinner. They offered me some food, so I showed them a few tricks as thanks and told them my name before I left. They must’ve used it as a clan name in honor of me…_

_Woah! That’s so cool!_ Naruto’s eyes widened in amazement as Kurama puffed out his fur in pride.

“Not present,” Homura said out loud, showing a disapproving look on his face.

Koharu clicked her tongue before continuing, “Lee Clan?”

“Ah, young Lee is out on a mission with his team. They should be coming back in time for the Chunin Exams though,” Hiruzen rubbed his chin.

“Nara Clan?”

“Present with next leading clan head in accompaniment,” Shikaku lazily answered. Shikamaru sleepily lifted his head from the table, and wistfully gazed out the window. _I could’ve been cloud watching right now…_

“Sarutobi Clan?”

“Here,” Asuma grunted from the corner he was sitting with Kurenai.

“Shimura Clan?” Koharu said, not even bothering to ask about the Senju Clan. Everyone knew that Tsunade was out of the village and not coming back any time soon.

“Here,” Danzo answered, finally taking his eyes off of Naruto. _It’s a shame he wasn’t in root…_

“Uchiha Clan?” Koharu listed, noticing the young Uchiha sitting among the other clan heads. _So, the rumors were true. He really is taking over his clan!_

“Present,” Sasuke curtly stated. He’d already filed the necessary paperwork with the Hokage before the meeting, so he was set to assume his position as clan head despite his older brother still being alive.

“Do you have any members of your clan you’d like to report?” Koharu awkwardly asked the standard question of when a new clan head joins.

“No,” Sasuke replied coldly.

“Yamanaka Clan?” Koharu read out.

“I’m here with my daughter,” Inoichi said, ruffling Ino’s hair.

“Dad, no, my hair!” Ino grumbled, as her dad just laughed.

“Alright, that’s everyone. Here’s the—” Koharu began handing over the list back to the Hokage but was cut off by an orange eyesore.

“Hey! You forgot my clan!” Naruto shouted out. Sakura frowned and nodded. Theirs should’ve come right after Sasuke’s clan, but they were skipped over.

“Oh, my apologies, I didn’t know you were part of a clan. Which one have you joined?” Koharu asked in a sickly-sweet voice. The other genin in attendance frowned at her, not liking her tone.

“What? No, I didn’t join any. I’m part of my own clan! The Uzumaki’s!” Naruto huffed.

“I think you’re mistaken. You see, you were given the Uzumaki name because you didn’t have a last name. The caretakers took pity on you and gifted you the last name of our fallen sister village. Who knew you’d actually think you were part of the clan?” a villager jeered.

The genin glared in the direction of where that voice came from. Ino had to stop Choji from storming over. “Stop, we’ll get them later. Team 8’s already on it. You’re going to get us caught,” she hissed. Inoichi and Choza were surprised to see that Choji was the first one to lose his cool. The usually mild-tempered boy never got angry or stood up for himself. It was strange seeing him rage while Ino, of all people, held him back.

“Yeah, you have no family!” Another voice from the crowd joined in bashing Naruto. Shikamaru clenched his fists tighter to stop from searching the crowd for whoever was insulting _his_ friend. Shikaku narrowed his eyes at his son, seeing the lazy look on his face exchanged for a solemn look.

“Shino, Kiba,” Hinata said. Hiashi was stunned, hearing his normally timid daughter’s commanding voice. “Did you bug them?”

“Yes,” Shino answered. Shibi looked at his son speculatively. He knew his son’s nature very well and thought he’d have trouble working together in a team. He was shocked to see his usually stoic son work with his teammates perfectly for someone’s else’s behalf.

“Good. I can’t wait to visit their houses with Akamaru later on,” Kiba ferally grinned. Tsume was going to scold him, but was taken aback when she heard Akamaru’s growl. It was the same one he used when a member of his pack was threatened. How close had the genin gotten if they’d already identified each other as pack members?

Sasuke overheard their conversation and locked eyes with Kiba, conveying his intent on joining them later on. Sakura made a fist embedded with chakra and solemnly nodded at Hinata, also agreeing to join. Kakashi stared out into the crowd and memorized each villager that looked even remotely dissatisfied with Naruto and made a mental note to… _visit_ them later.

“They’re right! The demon-brat—” a villager began but shut up when he saw Hiruzen’s face.

“Silence!” the Hokage bellowed. “Naruto holds the Uzumaki name and therefore may take over as clan head if he wishes!” Some civilians frowned, but didn’t open their mouths to protest when they saw the Hokage releasing Killing Intent at them.

“Hiruzen,” Danzo spoke, catching the everyone’s attention. “That’s not your decision to make. According to the charter, only those who have the bloodline of the clan may take over, not _charity cases_ …” He sneered at Naruto as he said this.

“But—” Hiruzen tried to speak but was cut off again.

“Unless… You actually know who the boy’s parents were?” Danzo pressed. He knew his old friend knew the carrier’s parents, yet still refused to tell him. But now, he had no choice but to tell unless he didn’t want Naruto to inherit his clan’s belongings.

“That is…” Hiruzen cursed internally. _That sly old bastard! He knows very well why I won’t announce Naruto’s heritage! He just wants me to confirm his suspicions…_

Naruto didn’t really understand what they were saying, but got enough of a gist to know that they didn’t believe that he really was an Uzumaki. “I am too an Uzumaki! Take that back!” he yelled.

“With what proof do you make that statement?” Danzo countered in a bored tone.

“I… I…” he tried to think of a way to prove himself as an Uzumaki. He went over what the Uzumaki Clan was known for. _Shit, I don’t have the red hair so I can’t use that… What else?_   “I heal really fast!” he shouted.

“Humph, so what? That could be a mutated Bloodline Limit for all we know,” Homura refuted, taking Danzo’s side.

“I also have a lot of chakra!” Naruto remembered the next thing the Uzumaki’s were known for. 

“That doesn’t prove anything! A lot of people in your _condition_ have a lot of chakra. How do we even know if it’s actually your chakra?” Koharu sneered. Hiruzen frowned at his advisors. _If only Naruto had red hair, then no one could protest that he wasn’t an Uzumaki. His acts just like Kushina!_

“He’s really good at making seals!” Sakura backed Naruto up.

“Anyone can learn with practice,” Danzo scoffed.

“I, I like Ramen?” Naruto blurt out, trying to think of something else.

“Yeah! He likes Ramen!” Sakura echoed, before realizing what she was saying.

“That-That’s not really a part of the Uzumaki heritage…” Homura stuttered, taken aback by the answer and sweat-dropped. The others looked at Naruto in disbelief, as he blushed.

“If you had any of the Uzumaki special techniques, then it’d be another story. But as the case stands, I’m sorry but you have none of what they’re known for like—” Koharu started saying before she was cut off by Naruto.

_Kit, show them your chakra chains!_

“Chakra chains?” Naruto repeated what Kurama said and focused.

“Yes, chakra chains are another technique that the Uzumaki’s were famous for,” Koharu continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted and then faltered. “How did you kn—ow?”

Danzo smirked at Hiruzen. _He’ll have to reveal the Jinchuuriki’s parentage now!_ He gloated as he heard Koharu’s rebuttal. He was waiting for Hiruzen to reveal the secret, when he noticed everyone had gone quiet. Looking over at the crowd, he sucked in a breath when he noticed the carrier had manifested golden chakra chains.

 _So, he has them too?_ Hiruzen thought as he saw the golden chains swirl up into the sky into a swirl, mimicking the Uzumaki Clan symbol. “That’s enough, Naruto,” Hiruzen said aloud. “I think you’ve proved that you’re an Uzumaki to _everyone_ here,” he said, looking straight at Danzo. “Alright, I think we’ve had a little too much excitement,” he continued, turning back to the crowd. “Let’s end the public meeting here,” Hiruzen decided. He watched the villagers slowly filter out before turning to Naruto. “Come over here for a second,” he beckoned the blonde over. Naruto moved towards the desk, closely shadowed by his two teammates, while the rest of the genin overprotectively watched from the side. _It looks like he finally made some really good friends._ Hiruzen smiled and continued speaking, “Congratulations on taking over the Uzumaki Clan. Do you have any members to report?”

“Yeah! I’ve got Sakura-chan!” Naruto excitedly told the Hokage, pointing at the pink-haired girl.

“Oh?” Hiruzen asked, bemused. He didn’t expect Naruto to already recruit his teammate. Sakura blushed from behind him. “Do you have anyone else?” he asked, not really expecting Naruto to name anyone else.

“Yeah!” Naruto nodded his head. Danzo listened in closely, wondering who else had joined the Jinchuuriki’s clan. He choked when he heard Naruto’s answer. “Sai is in my clan too! He’s an orphan and was my first member!”

 _What?_ Danzo thought in shock, wondering why his operative hadn’t reported this development back to him yet. _At least he’s blending in well…_

Shikamaru frowned, he didn’t remember anyone named Sai in the village. He saw the other genin looking at him and shook his head no, signifying that he didn’t know who this _Sai_ was. He made a mental note to ask his father to run a background check on him later on. Naruto hesitated before adding, “And… And I’ve also got another member. His name’s Kurama… and I met him in Wave,” he improvised, carefully avoiding any mention that Kurama was actually the Kyuubi who was still stuck inside him.

 _Aww Kit! You’re sooo nice!_ Kurama gushed sarcastically, but deep down was touched.

 _Shut up!_ Naruto thought back, embarrassed. _I said you were part of my family, and I meant it, so it’s only right that you’re also part of my clan too! Plus, you’ll need a place to stay once I get you out of that seal!_ Kurama felt a familiar warm feeling bubble over him again.

“Okay, that’s good! I see you’re already on your way to restoring your clan,” Hiruzen chuckled, mentally noting to get his ANBU to do background checks on Sai and Kurama, as he didn’t recognize who they were.

“Yup, Jiji!” Naruto happily agreed. “Do you want to get some ramen with me to celebrate?” he asked excitedly.

Hiruzen was about to agree when he saw the possessive faces of the other genin. “Not today, Naruto. I see your friends want to hang out with you,” he teased. Naruto flushed slightly and looked away.

“That’s right! We were thinking of going to Yakiniku Q’s after this, they’ve got the best barbecue in the village!” Choji boasted.

“So, do you want to come? Team 8 and our parents are also coming!” Ino eagerly asked.

“Well, alright,” Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking at his two teammates, wondering if they’d come.

“Sounds like fun,” Sakura agreed while Sasuke just nodded.

“Let’s go then!” Kiba exclaimed and dragged Shino away with him, leading the way. The genin trailed after the two, and were closely followed by their parents.

* * *

 

The Sixth Meeting: Yakiniku Q’s

“So… How do you all like being genin?” Inoichi asked as he wiped the sauce of his fingers with a napkin. They’d crammed all 15 of them into a large booth and had just been served their food. Naruto was watching everything with wide eyes. He’d never set foot in this restaurant before. He mimicked what Sakura was doing and set a few skewers of beef onto the charcoal grill blazing in the middle of the table.

“It’s good so far,” Kiba answered in between ripping bites off his skewer. “I can’t wait to go on a C-rank! Catching Tora sucks!” He wrinkled his nose up in displeasure.

“Hahaha,” Choza chuckled. “You’ve only been genin for a few weeks! Wait another month for a C-rank. We didn’t get ours until after four months!” He looked at Shikaku and Inoichi, who were grimacing, remembering the months of D-ranks they were forced to endure.

“That’s not fair, Team 7 already got a C-rank!” Ino complained. The parents were surprised to hear this. They’d just come out of the academy a few weeks ago and were already taking C-ranks? _Wow, the team with the two top ranked shinobi and dead last are a lot faster than the other teams…_ Hiashi thought, remembering how his nephew’s team also went on their first C-rank just two months out of the academy.

“Oh? And, how was it?” Shikaku asked, glancing at Team 7.

Sakura answered, seeing Naruto was engrossed in grilling his food and knowing Sasuke wouldn’t answer. “I don’t really think you can use our mission as a standard for other C-ranks…” she began hesitantly.

“Ha, the curse strikes again!” Tsume laughed, spilling her wine on the table.

“What curse?” Kiba asked his mom, sopping up what she’d spilled with a napkin.

“There’s a curse on C-ranks, especially first one genin take. Legend has it that there was a team of genin who’d just come out of the academy. Their sensei was away on a mission, so they decided to take a mission by themselves. Little did they know that the Chunin manning the mission assignment desk had a grudge against their sensei for stealing his girlfriend. Since he hated their teacher, he persuaded them to go on a C-rank all by themselves. So, they went, but the mission actually turned out to actually be a B-rank and they were ambushed by a group of jounin-level bandits! They fought bravely but in the end, couldn’t win. Before they died, the bandits told them that they’d actually been hired by the mission assignment Chunin who had a grudge against their teacher and wanted revenge. With their last breath, they cursed C-ranks for all future teams to never turn out the way they’re supposed to, especially if it was the team’s first C-rank,” Inoichi creepily narrated, spooking the children.

Choza smacked the back of his friend’s head and spoke in a mollifying tone, “Don’t listen to this idiot. He’s just trying to scare you. The last time a C-rank turned bad was back before the fourth became Hokage.” He rolled his eyes at Inoichi who was still pouting and rubbing his head. “At most, you’ll only have to fight a few bandits on a C-rank,” he tried to placate the genin, who didn’t look convinced as they knew what happened on Team 7’s _supposed_ C-rank.

“Actually…” Sakura spoke up. “Our C-rank was mislabeled too! It was actually an A-rank…”

“What?” Shikaku sat up straighter in alarm. There’s no way an A-rank could be relabeled as a C-rank. Even the client lied about it, they were ninja! Any lie should have easily been seen through by the interrogators. There was no way it could slip through and be added to the list of C-ranks for genin to complete. Someone would have to deliberately ignore the warning signs they got from the client and covertly add the mission to the genin’s pile of missions. _But that doesn’t make sense! Why would they want a genin team to go on an A-rank? Unless… Unless, they wanted to test the team, or in this case, test a certain member of the team._ He glanced at the orange genin who wasn’t listening to the conversation, as he was too lost in savoring the food he’d just made on the grill.

“I said, t-that our C-rank was actually an A-rank?” Sakura stuttered slightly as she saw all the parents were sharply watching her. The other parents were grim. The only team that could’ve taken this mission was Team 7. Team 9 was still out of the village on an extended mission until the Chunin Exams, and Teams 8 and 10 couldn’t leave the village yet due to their clan training. This mission specifically targeted Team 7. Either someone from the village was trying to kill then off, which wasn’t very likely, or someone had wanted to test Team 7… This had Danzo written all over it.

Shikaku had been suspicious of the elderly councilman before, especially after the genin had found his seal inscribed inside his house and the seal on Shikamaru’s earrings. But now, he was sure that Root was still up and running and that Danzo was definitely planning something big in the next few months. _But what could it be? Wait… The Chunin Exams are coming up! Shit, something’s going to happen there! I’m going to have to up the security…_ He rubbed his face tiredly, thinking of all the extra security measures he’d have to add to the plans.

“Yeah, they had to fight the Demon Brothers and Zabuza Momochi of the Seven Swordsmen of Mist and his apprentice!” Kiba excitedly explained. The parent’s eyes widened, wondering how they’d even survived. They knew Kakashi was good, but this good?

“And they defeated Gato and saved Wave!” Ino enthusiastically inputted. _Wait, Gato? As in Gato corporation? As in the shipping magnate that took over Wave with a massive private army and was rumored to have hired jounin-level mssing-nin? They defeated that Gato without any backup?_ They thought in disbelief.

“There’s even a bridge in Wave named after Naruto,” Shikamaru dryly added on. The parents nodded. They’d heard that recently there was a mission to Wave and a bridge was built connecting it to the mainland, but they didn’t know the actual details of the mission. To think that it was accomplished by all genin! Wave had been trying to overthrow Gato for years, and in the end, it only took a group of genin to set them free…

“Wow, that must be a new record! Only a few weeks out of the academy, and you’ve already went on your first A-rank!” Tsume teased.

“Yeah,” Sakura blushed and Sasuke tilted his chin up in pride. Naruto was still engrossed in making the “prefect” grilled beef.

“I can’t wait for my first C-rank!” Ino pouted jealously as she sipped her smoothie.

“I hope ours isn’t as exciting,” Shikamaru deadpanned, giving Choji the rest of his barbecue.

“Haha, well, it’s getting late,” Choza said, noticing that everyone was done eating. “This was fun! Let’s do this again another time!” The others nodded and began packing up the leftovers and paying off their bills.

“Thank you for inviting us out to eat. As it is getting late, we shall take our leave first,” Hiashi said as he stood up and bowed to the group.

“Thank you for the invitation and food. I had a lot of fun today!” Hinata politely thanked everyone and exited the restaurant with her father.

“See you all later!” Choji called out before leaving as Shikamaru just lazily waved goodbye at everyone and left with their dads.

Inoichi waved goodbye and left with Ino who yelled, “Bye!”

“Alright! See you guys later!” Kiba boisterously waved and raced his mother home. No one noticed when Shibi and Shino had silently left. All that was left in front of the empty restaurant was Team 7.

“So… I guess I’ll be going now,” Sakura turned to leave as she saw her teammates weren’t saying anything.

“Sakura-chan! Let us walk you home, it’s dark outside now,” Naruto caught up with her. Sasuke stoically stood on her other side and nodded, indicating he’d join them.

“You guys!” Sakura was touched. She felt warm inside when she saw her team actually cared about her. It made her even more determined to begin training and catchup to her boys. If she started now and trained nonstop, she should catch up to them in time for the Chunin Exams… She clenched her fists, her resolution made.

Sasuke and Naruto waved goodbye at Sakura and walked in silence to their homes. “Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“You… You have good friends,” Sasuke finally said after some silence.

“Thanks,” Naruto scratched the back of his head and squinted at Sasuke. The raven-haired boy looked even more gloomier than usual. “You know, they’re your friends too now…” he said.

“Friends? I don’t need friends,” Sasuke scoffed. “They’ll just get in the way.” The two boys stopped walking in the middle of the street.

“You don’t mean that,” Naruto softly said in the same tone of voice he used to coax Konohamaru to eat his vegetables.

“…No, I don’t,” Sasuke whispered so quietly, Naruto almost didn’t hear him.

“I knew you didn’t mean it! After all, I am your _best_ friend, and I’m super awesome!” Naruto joked, trying to lighten up the mood. Sasuke snorted, but his lips twitched upwards slightly. They continued walking down the path together.

“Thanks…(for not letting me be alone)” Sasuke said, not looking at Naruto who saw his ears slightly tinted red. The blonde didn’t say anything and just hummed with his hands behind his head, looking up at the moon. The two walked back in a comfortable silence, not saying anything else for the rest of that day.


	8. The Seventh Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a chapter! I was going to wait to have the whole Chunin Exams done as a chapter, but it was getting way too long, so I broke it up into three parts instead.
> 
> Thanks for the comments, bookmarks, and kudos! Updates Will probably be slower from now on because college started again (*cries*)...
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

 

 

* * *

 

The Seventh Meeting: Another Clan Meeting (This Time in Private)

“Ahem, since the last meeting ended early and we didn’t actually get to discuss anything other than the attendance and the admittance of two new Clan Heads, we’ll redo it later after the Chunin Exams. All items on the agenda will be put on hold until then,” Hiruzen coughed sheepishly. He didn’t mean forget about the meeting points and end the meeting early, but he was just so angry about the way the villagers treated Naruto! The only reason he didn’t go and personally punish those civilians was because he knew Naruto wouldn’t want him to do that. Hiruzen sighed. The boy was just too stubborn! He wanted to gain the villager’s acknowledgement through his hard work as a shinobi, and to not be given fake respect just because Hiruzen commanded them to apologize. That, and he didn’t track down those troublemakers from last week because they’d already been checked into the trauma ward of the hospital. Hiruzen chuckled thinking that it was great that there were people he could finally trust to protect Naruto when he wasn’t able to. “Koharu, could you let the other Clan Heads who aren’t here know? Ah, and Kakashi could inform young Naruto and Sasuke about the postponed meeting?” The two nodded in acquiescence. “Good,” Hiruzen rubbed his hands together and then looked at Shikaku.

Shikaku noticed the signal and began speaking, “I bet you’re all wondering why we’re here today. Two words: Chunin Exams.” The light atmosphere in the room immediately thickened, jounin-sensei glared heatedly at each other as if they were from two feuding families that had just found out they were competing for the same prize. The other Chunin in the crowd excitedly murmured amongst themselves.

“Settle down!” Ibiki Morino sternly reprimanded the chattering jounin and Chunin who deflated, not wanting to risk a visit to the Torture and Interrogations Department if they angered the grizzled old man. “As you all know, I’m the examiner for the first stage and Anko Mitarashi will be in charge of the second stage.” The hopeful jounin-sensei and Chunin standing in the first row winced, deciding that it’d be better for their genin to try their luck another year. “Now that being said,” Ibiki smiled wickedly at the crowd, “Who wants to nominate their genin this year?”

For a moment, no one raised their hands. Iruka sighed in relief. _Good. It’s too early for any of them to join this year…_ Interrupting his thoughts, three voices rang out in unison.

“I nominate Team 7 for the exams this year…”

“I nominate Team 8 for the exams this year…”

“I nominate Team 10 for the exams this year…”

“What!” Iruka spluttered.

“How unusual, for you all to unhesitatingly recommend your rookie genin this year!” Hiruzen puffed a few circles of smoke from his pipe.

“Wait, just a moment! Are you sure that they’re ready? I don’t mean to intrude, but I just…” he struggled, trying to convey what he felt.

 _So, this is the “Iruka-sensei” that Naruto always babbles about?_ Kakashi eyed the Chunin protesting in front of him. _Spiky hair? Check. Short? Check. Frets like a mother-hen? Check._ He moved closer to the other man and decided to help the floundering academy teacher. This was someone Naruto thought highly of, so he must be something special. “Ma, if you’re so worried about them, why don’t you go and give them a test of their own? To see if they’re really ready for the exams or not?” He eye-smiled at the stupefied ninja.

“That’s a great idea,” Hiruzen approved before anyone could say anything.

“…I’ll go do that,” Iruka hesitated and then agreed. Although, he didn’t know why the masked-ninja was willing to indulge him, he was still thankful that the other allowed him to voice out his worries. Iruka really cared for the genin this year. They were his first batch of children that had graduated. He’d taught from when they were youngsters all the way to genin, and although they were out of his grasp now, he still cared for them deeply. Over the years, he’d grown really attached to them and didn’t want to see them get hurt over something like their jounin-sensei being competitive. _Still, they’ll do great things in the future…_ He thought in pride, exiting the room to go and find the kids he trained. He was going to test them one more time before he let them slip away into adulthood, and this time, he wasn’t going to hold back.

* * *

 

_Letter #1_

_Hello! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I’m writing to you because we’re related and I never knew I had any living family left! I don’t know much about you, but my family history book said you were my Great Great Aunt or something on my mom’s side so I’m going to call you Baa-chan! I’ll ask Jiji if he knows you later this week. This is my first time using the pigeon mail services, so I don’t know how long it’ll take… I’m looking forward to getting to know you. Ok, I gotta go, so I’ll talk to you later! ~Naruto_

* * *

 

In Town

Sai crouched in the bushes, watching Naruto walk to the center of the village. He heard each and every word the civilians directed at the younger boy.

“Look, it’s the demon-brat! Careful not to get too close, who knows if it has rabies…” a mother lowered her voice, tugging her children away from the blonde. Everyone walked in a wide-arc around the blond, the crows splitting around him like a river parting around a rock.

“Hey did you hear?” An old man missing his front teeth questioned his wife.

“Hmm?” she wondered, rocking back on her chair. They were sitting by the fountain in the middle of the square, feeding the pigeons crusted bread, the leftovers from their bakery.

“They say it’s a Clan Head now,” he nodded his head towards the oblivious blonde, scattering his handful of crumbs as he did so.

“What? No way! How could they let that be a respected Clan Head?” she asked aghast, clutching the bad of stale bread tightly.

“Tis’ true,” a farmer in overalls who overheard confirmed. “They said that some folk went against it, but it forced the ‘okage to hand it over by using blackmail. Also,” he lowered his voice. “Also, they say that no one can find those poor brave souls who spoke against it anymore…” He looked down, the brim of his hat shading his eyes.

“How horrible,” the old lady muttered as they all turned to glare at the blonde, who barely noticed the glares, already used to them…

Sai crept along the bushes and positioned himself nearer to the genin to hear him speak. Over the past few days, he’d gotten to know his roommate on an intimate level. He knew that the other hated fresh vegetables viciously with a passion, yet still forced himself to eat the ones he harvested from the forest. He knew that the blonde would eat red bean soup instead of Ramen when he felt down. He knew the blonde raised plants in the apartment because he felt alone and wanted friends he could talk to, even if they wouldn’t answer back. He’d sit with the plants for hours and tell them all about his day and his troubles. Actually, it was only through overhearing one of these talks that Sai realized that the younger boy was not the happy-go-lucky genin the reports said he was. Instead, the blonde carefully hid all his troubles behind a close-eyed too-wide grin.

After careful observation, Sai had concluded that the other boy definitely wasn’t the hyperactive knuckle-headed troublemakers the academy made him out to be. Coming home from a day of missions, the blonde liked to laze on his armchair, reading anything from his Uzumaki Heritage or a biography of the fourth Hokage to Konoha’s Charters or the History of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Once he’d even found the younger boy reading about the legendary Sage of Six Paths. The blonde was also quite diligent with his training. Once he finished reading the book, he’d go outside and train for another four hours with five of his clones attacking him before finally taking a shower. The blonde had noticed Sai watching him train, and offered to spar with him, so now they sparred together. Sai didn’t hold back at all, and despite being defeated countless times, the blonde still smiled brightly at him after the practice fight finished and declared he’d defeat him the next day.

A clone would usually make dinner for them while he took his bath. It could really be seen in the clone’s dinner selections that the other boy was very observant. By his third day here, the blonde had already taken to making more momen tofu and avoiding making mitarashi dango. Despite his loud, boisterous, and often downright rude nature, Naruto really cared for those close to him. And now that Sai was living with him, that included him as well. For his gift for joining the clan, the younger boy had given him a set of ink brushes and a sketching pad. Sai still couldn’t figure out how he’d known about his secret hobby when even Danzo couldn’t figure it out until he told him. Whenever he’d asked, the blonde just smiled and say, “You just feel like someone who likes to draw. After all the stalking you do, I think you’d want to capture the images you see every day!” Now if you looked at the apartment’s walls, you could already see some of his better paintings decorating them.

After eating, he’d clean up the table while Sai did the dishes. They usually talked to each other during this time, getting to know the other’s likes and dislikes. Sai had never experienced this type of casual conversation before and was finding that he quite liked it. It also gave him an ample amount of time to practice using the “people skills” Danzo had taught him. After cleaning up, Naruto would then go back to the living room and sit at the table, working on his seals until it was time for bed. Sometimes, Sai saw the other boy writing letters, but he could never get close enough to see to whom he was writing to… Over the week, Sai had come to feel a certain amount of affection for the blonde. Despite Danzo’s reminders to not get too close to the subject, he just couldn’t help it. There just was something about Naruto and his sunny smile that drew him in like a moth to a flame. He knew that he shouldn’t be drawn to the other boy, but he couldn’t stop himself from considering the other as his close friend, actually as his only friend…

Sai shook away his thoughts and focused on the blonde in front of him. Naruto walked over to the pigeons and stood there, squinting at the sun, his hands shoved in his pockets. Just when Sai was about to come out of his hiding and ask what Naruto was doing, a bird flew down from the clouds, landing on Naruto’s shoulder. “Hattori! You made it! Do you have any letters for me?” the blonde asked eagerly. The pigeon ducked his head and cooed morosely. “Hey, that’s okay, I’ve got a letter for you, don’t worry about it,” Naruto consoled the bird who perked up visibly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter Sai had seen him working on, rolling it up and giving it to the bird. “Here, take this to Ba-chan,” Naruto spoke softly to the bird who nodded, spreading its wings, circling overhead twice before finally taking off. The blonde watched the bird fly off into the distance until he could no longer see him anymore. Stuffing his hands, back into his pockets, he was about to walk away when he overheard the villagers feeding the pigeons.

“Ha, it’s no wonder it got an empty pigeon with no reply, being a Demon-brat and all,” the old man mean-spiritedly huffed loftily.

“No wonder! No one likes it, not even its family wanted it, why else would it be left in the orphanage even though it had distant relatives? It’s probably a bother that it’s writing to them after all these years. They didn’t reply because they don’t want to talk to it,” his wife spoke loudly, glancing in Naruto’s direction, making sure he overheard her. Naruto just scowled at them. It wasn’t the meanest thing the villagers had ever said to him, but what she said actually struck a chord with his worries about his parents and if they loved him or not. Also, he still hadn’t received a reply to any of his letters. _One more letter… I’ll send one more letter, and if she doesn’t reply, then… I’ll stop sending them to her! I can only talk to her face to face then!_ Naruto clenched his hands into fists, promising himself to stop writing letters and to go out and find Tsunade if she didn’t write back. The old woman, thinking she hurt him, smirked.

“Yeah, it’s a wonder that the Demon has a clan with clan members. Or that it even has friends! Who knows what they were thinking, they must be idiots or be defective! Maybe they’re also Demons in disguise, we should run them all out of town!” the old farmer laughed. The next moment, he was on the ground, clutching his aching cheek. He didn’t expect the brat to actually hit him!

Naruto loomed over the other man, the elderly couple watching in shock and fear as he pointed a finger at the farmer. “You can insult me. You can make jabs about my parents. You can call me whatever you want. But, don’t you _dare_ badmouth my friends and clan members!” Naruto yelled at the other man.

“Fine, fine, I was wrong. Jeez. Who’d even want to be friends with you anyways, with a temper like that? I think you must have brainwashed them,” the farmer scoffed, still rubbing his aching cheek. Naruto tensed, about to blow up again, when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He looked up, and saw Sai standing there behind him.

The pale boy ignored the others and said, “There you are, I was looking for you. Want to go and get some ice-cream? I heard Cup Noodles even has Ramen flavored ice-cream!” He then pretended he just saw the others, “Oh, am I interrupting something? Let me introduce myself, I’m Sai _Uzumaki_ , a friend from Naruto’s clan. I’m also a jounin…” He then fake-smiled at them and held out his hand in greeting.

The couple paled and bolted from where they were sitting, leaving behind the bag of bread crumbs in their haste. The farmer stiffened but continued on with his false bravado. “Humph,” he ignored Sai’s outstretched hand and scowled at Naruto before he too hurriedly dashed away.

“How rude,” Sai said. “They didn’t even say their names… But that couple ran really fast for a pair of old civilians!”

Naruto watched everything happen with his jaw dropped open. “What? But-wait-you said? You’re a genin!” he finally accused.

Sai smiled bemusedly, “Yeah, I am.”

“But you said…!”

“I lied,” Sai bluntly interrupted the blonde whose mouth opened and closed like a fish. “I’m a ninja, we lie,” he shrugged, still amused. His face darkened slightly as he said, “Plus, I didn’t like what they were saying about you. Stick up for yourself too, alright?”

“Mm,” Naruto nodded, feeling warm inside that Sai had stood up for him. He only knew the other boy for a little over a week and he already was pushing his way into his heart. Although Sai had some pretty weird habits, like staring at people and stalking them, that was okay! All ninja had weird habits, just look at Kakashi-sensei, he actually read Icha Icha in public! The important thing was that Sai actually cared about him enough to defend him against the villagers. No one, other than Jiji or Inu, _ever_ did that! And… And, Sai called himself an Uzumaki! He finally had a family, one that shared the same name as him! He felt himself tear-up slightly, just thinking about it. Kurama, noticing Naruto’s fluctuating emotions, sent a pulse of his chakra to Naruto, calming the blonde down. _Thanks, I needed that…_ He thought to the fox, who just made a grumbly purring sound in reply. Turning back to Sai, he asked what had been on his mind since Sai had mentioned it, “Is there really a Ramen flavored ice-cream?”

Sai blinked at the blonde’s wide blue eyes before answering, “Of course, I wouldn’t lie to you, would I?” He fake-smiled again.

“…” Naruto sweat-dropped, but followed Sai nevertheless to the ice-cream place, deciding to trust him just this once.

* * *

 

_Letter #2_

_Ok, so you didn’t reply to my last letter yet. I guess you’re still thinking about what to say or you must be busy being a Sannin and all. I heard the clerks at the bird place I went to say that you have a slug summons? That’s so cool! Kakashi-sensei has a dog summons and Jiji has a monkey summons, but I’ve never seen either of them before. This is my second time writing letter, so I don’t really know what to say. Iruka-sensei said you’re supposed to talk about ourselves and our lives so I guess I’ll start first. My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I love orange and Ramen and Jiji and Iruka-sensei and my friends and Kakashi-sensei, even if he’s weird and likes to read Ich Icha. I hate the three minutes it takes to make Ramen and my dream is to become Hokage! And… to get along with my teammates, I guess… I’m on Team 7 with Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, and Sasuke-teme. Kakashi-sensei likes to wear a mask and show up late to practice a lot and we’re still stuck doing D-ranks which are super BORING! And I thought I had a crush on Sakura-chan but actually, I don’t think I know what love is… And Sakura-chan hates me, so… My other teammate, Sasuke-teme is a bastard! He beats me whenever we spar, and doesn’t like to even talk to us! But soon I’ll be able to beat him too! I’m getting stronger from practicing with the other genin in our village. I’m already able to do water walking! It took a long time to learn even with like 500 shadow clones helping me for days, but Shika says that’s because I have too much chakra, so yeah! Take that teme! What about you? I heard you were a medic and that you were on a Team with Jiji! You must be old! And we have something in common, both Jiji and Kakashi-sensei like reading Icha Icha! Ok, I’ll talk to you later, I need to go on another D-rank with my team, so bye for now! ~Naruto_

* * *

 

Iruka v. Team 7 Round 1: Sakura

He watched the pink-haired girl stop underneath the tree. He bent his knees and the launched himself at her.

Sakura was just coming back from her training session with Ino and Hinata. She rubbed her sore arms. Hinata didn’t hold back at all with her harsh strikes. Ino and she couldn’t keep up with Hinata’s taijutsu and were bruised all over. And ever since Naruto showed her how to add exploding seals to candy wrappers, she’d been almost impossible to beat with her new unpredictable explosive style. _What I wouldn’t give for a healer right now…_ Sakura thought and groaned, remembering that she still had a whole day of personal training ahead of her. _Wait, healing…_ “That’s it! Shannaro!” she fist-pumped in excitement before wincing. “Oops, forgot not to channel any chakra into the punch…” she sweat-dropped when she saw the fallen over tree. Looking around to see if anyone saw her, she turned both ways and then rushed out of there.

Iruka groaned. _Damn, she’s got a strong punch. Why did she never use it in the Academy?_ He complained and then looked at the fallen oak tree in awe. _And to have detected me so soon? If I hadn’t ducked at the last second, she would’ve hit me instead of the tree! She’s definitely ready for the Exams…_ Shakily, he stood up and Shunshined away to test the next member of Team 7, never noticing a tall masked-jounin snickering in the corner.

* * *

 

_Letter #3_

_Nothing much has been going on here… How’s it going wherever you are? You haven’t responded so Hattori’s still not back yet … Oh, by the way, the bird delivering this letter is called Hattori and he’s super awesome! We’re on our first C-rank, taking a break right now… I’m waiting for Hattori to get back so I can send this letter along with the second one I wrote. It’s exciting, being on a C-rank! You never know when bandits could attack or—_

* * *

 

Root HQ

Danzo clutched the reports one of his best agents sent him in disbelief. _What is going on over there?_ He thought. The last report from Sai didn’t really say much other than the removal of his seal, which in itself was worrying, and his induction into the Uzumaki Clan. At least he knew Sai was one of his most loyal agents, so there was nothing to fear about him giving away any of Root’s secrets (not that he knew any other than the existence of Root…) Danzo marveled at the Jinchuuriki’s ability to elicit protection from those around it. Hiruzen wouldn’t even allow him to set foot near the carrier, and the next generation of clan Heads were enamored with him. Squinting at the reports once more, he reread the part about the boy’s reading habits. _Konoha’s charter? The history of the Five Great Shinobi Nations?_ Danzo snorted. _A brat playing at becoming Hokage… Studying this late wasn’t going to help him improve. His written test just barely allowed him to become a genin! If he thinks he can become Hokage with just this much work…_ Danzo laughed again at the absurdity of it. _Still, I should make Sai keep a close watch on him…_ He thought, remembering that the pale boy had found out about the carrier’s plan to dig up the graves with the Uchiha heir. Luckily, he’d been able to circumvent this by having Fu and Kabuto obstruct it using the excuse of the Chunin Exams. _He really is unpredictable… But that doesn’t matter, with Sai by his side, I’ll know everything he thinks!_ Little did he know that his loyal minion was going to break free from his control in the near future…

* * *

 

_Letter #4_

_Sorry for never finishing the last letter. We were attacked by the Demon Brothers and I forgot what I was saying… So now I’m just writing a new one. But yeah, C-ranks are so exciting!!! At first, I thought it was just going to be a lame mission to protect Tazuna (he’s a drunk bridge builder from Wave), but then it turns out that Gato was actually trying to kill Tazuna and he sent the Demon Brother and Zabuza after us! We had this really awesome fight and we won but Kakashi-sensei had chakra exhaustion so I had to carry him back the rest of the way. And I set up this really cool barrier to protect Tazuna! There also was a Hunter-nin that killed Zabuza! But it was weird, the Hunter-nin also felt like the fake Mizu-Bunshin Zabuza used to attack us and stuff. When I tried to ask Kakashi-sensei about it, Sasuke-teme interrupted me and was all angry that the Hunter-nin was the same age as us, so I couldn’t ask Kakashi-sensei about it yet… Ok, I’m tired now so I’m going to sleep. I’ll write more later in the morning. Night! ~Naruto_

* * *

 

Iruka v. Team 7 Round 2: Sasuke

Sasuke was facing one of the most difficult decisions of his life. He looked between his two choices back and forth and back and forth and… Just as he’d finally decided on one and was reaching for it, a hand stretched past him and took his prize! Sasuke immediately turned around, enraged that someone would dare to steal the prized red tomato that he’d personally picked only to see… no one? He shrugged and gave up on that tomato reaching for the next one, when the same thing happened! He looked around again and still saw no one there. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke reached for another tomato when the same exact thing happened again! This time, Sasuke wasn’t going down without a fight! Scanning his surroundings, Sasuke emitted a small chakra wave searching for the bastard stole his precious tomatoes. There! He felt a disturbance by the bridge and ran towards it. On the bridge, a bulky man covered in bandages, wearing a slashed headband stood in the middle of the bridge waiting for Sasuke. The other man fanned out his fingers, displaying the tomatoes and then dropped them onto the ground, grinding them into paste with his heel.

“Why?” Sasuke confronted, gripping his kunai tightly and feeling murderous. _How dare he waste MY tomatoes! Just wait, I’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget, that tomato-wasting good-for-nothing bastard!!!_

The ninja grinned crookedly, “To lure you out, of course. Uchiha Sasuke, I wanted to tell you to drop out of the Chunin Exams, you’re too weak to succeed.”

Sasuke was about to reply when an orange genin ran in front of him and shouted, “Don’t pick on my friends!” Naruto then turned back to Sasuke and asked, “Hey, what are we fighting about anyways?” Facepalming, Sasuke just shook his head at the blonde in front of him.

“Dobe…” he began before he noticed a shower of kunai headed towards Naruto. Sasuke yelled out in alarm, “Watch out!” He ran forward, trying to push the blonde out of the way, but was too late.

“Huh?” Naruto turned around slowly, too slowly, and Sasuke could only watch as the blonde was riddled in puncture wounds, sluggishly bleeding out onto the bridge. He reached out his arm and gasped, “Sa-S-ke, I-I can’t…” He stopped.

“Naruto…” Sasuke was bent over Naruto’s prone body, checking for a pulse but not finding any. “You!” Sasuke glared at the other ninja, activating his Sharingan.

The man shrugged, “He was in the way… But don’t you see? You’re not ready for the Chunin Exams. You weren’t even able to save your friend with your own power and now he’s dead. You don’t have what it takes to become a Chunin without your team, you’re not strong enough!”

“Shut up!” Sasuke yelled, silencing the other man. “You think that I didn’t know? That from the start this was a genjutsu?” he pursed his lips, looking at the other ninja in distaste. “You… I was going to let you off easily, but now... KAI!” he forcefully dispelled the genjutsu and Naruto’s body disappeared, only leaving the other ninja standing in front of him. “But now, don’t think I’ll go easy on you after showing me such a disgusting scene!” Before the other man could move, Sasuke already lashed out, kicking the other ninja as hard as he could. When it hit the ground, it burst into smoke and Sasuke sneered. “Humph, a clone.” He stuffed his hands into his pocket, kicking at the ground where Naruto’s body used to be. He shuddered. If he could help it, that would never ever happen in reality. He’d already lost enough family members, he wasn’t going to lose his team anytime soon… A one-eyed jounin slipped away from the bridge after observing the fight.

Iruka felt his clone pop and the rush of memories hit him. He was still sore from his earlier encounter with Sakura. Although she didn’t get him, the shockwave and splinters did. He’d spent all evening trying but failing to remove all of the shards of the tree that’d embedded themselves underneath his skin. The memories from his “fight” with Sasuke just increased his mental burden, making him even more tired. _I think that I’ll wait until tomorrow to test Naruto…_ He thought before drifting off into sleep.

* * *

 

_Letter #5_

_Hey! I hope you missed hearing from me because I have a lot to tell you! We just finished making Tazuna’s bridge and we’re about to leave Wave to Whirlpool. Zabuza and Haku (he was the Hunter-nin) died… It was just too sad. I’m going to train even harder from now on, so I can protect those precious to me, just like Haku did! Except, you know, not dying, because that would suck... Iruka-sensei almost died for me too when Mizuki-teme tried to kill me and I don’t want anyone ever dying to protect me. That’s why I have to get stronger. So, no one will have to die to protect me. I need to be strong enough to protect them all instead. And I’ll do it! Just like I’ll become Hokage! Believe it! Because that’s my ninja way, and I never go back on my word!!! ~Naruto_

* * *

 

_Letter #6_

_Ok, so this is on the same piece of paper because I sort of ran out of paper… Yeah, we’re leaving Wave tomorrow. They named the bridge after me, isn’t that so cool?! It’s called The Uzumaki Naruto Bridge: A Bridge of New Hopes!!! I was surprised that Sasuke and Sakura agreed with the name. Actually, I think my teammates are starting to like me because they both are nicer now. I think near-death experiences do that to people. Sakura doesn’t even hit me anymore or call me an idiot ever since I made her those chakra gauntlets! But now her punches are really really scary. She can knock a tree down with just one punch… Sasuke also stopped calling me Dobe! And he said that I was his best friend! Even if his brother told him that he had to kill his best friend to unlock the final version of his Sharingan, I’m still glad to be his best friend! I never had friends in the Academy before, but ever since I became a genin and went to those meetings, I’ve made so many new bonds with people. The list of those precious to me, those I have to protect has grown from just Jiji, Inu, and Iruka-sensei. It’s really just … amazing. ~Naruto_

* * *

 

Anko and Dango

“Woah! How is this soooo good?” Naruto moaned, savoring his Miso Ramen-flavored ice-cream. “There must be a seal on it or something disguising it! There’s no way this is natural!” Naruto declared, rolling up his sleeves and holding his hands out. He prepared to scan the ice-cream, when someone accidentally bumped into him and he probed a purple haired lady eating dango instead. “Whoops,” Naruto muttered about to ignore the results of the test when he noticed something strange. “What?” he wrinkled his eyebrows together, still staring at the woman.

Sai, noticing the blonde’s gaze, looked at the woman who was staring at them curiously and said, “How disgusting! A Mitarashi Dango eating woman, too unattractive!” But since Anko was too far away, she heard it as: “How disgusting! Mitarashi and Dango! For a woman, she’s too unattractive!”

“Hey!” the purple-haired lady’s eyes flamed up and she emitted killer intent at the two boys. Aiming her dango skewer, she threw it so that it sliced the pale boy’s cheek and embedded in the wall behind him.

“You! What’s wrong with you?” Naruto yelled, finally snapping out of his seal results-induced trance.

“What’s wrong with _me_? What’s wrong with _him_! He stares at me and then insults me, how can I _not_ get angry!” Anko retorted in outrage.

“What?” Naruto asked in confusion, not having witnessed what just happened, but waving it off as unimportant. “No, I’m talking about the seal on your neck,” he continued, oblivious to her stiffening up in shock. “Why’s it so messed up? It doesn’t make any sense!” he complained. “Whoever gave it to you knows nothing about seals! It’s unbalanced and the tomoe aren’t even in harmony, like seriously, what’s up with the design. There are just so many flaws, I can’t even describe just how wrong it is!” he complained, running his hand through his hair in agitation. By now, Anko was just limply listening to the blonde rant, still too stunned to stop him. “And I don’t even get the point of it honestly. Why would you even want someone else’s chakra imprint on your neck of all places? I can sort of see how being attached to someone would make it easier to communicate with them, but even that part is blocked off by the rest of the seal. And relying on someone else’s chakra for a boost? That’s kinda… stupid, no offence but it’s not even your own power and it’s unbalanced so it’d warp your mind and make you crazy. Honestly, the seal is so messed up, you’d be better off to just take it off and start over from scratch. What did you want it to do, anyways? Maybe I can help you out…”

Hearing that Anko finally broke out of her stupor and clutched the front of the blonde’s orange jumpsuit in a death grip. “Wait, you can take this off?” she asked desperately, a hint of hope in her eyes. Sai watched her closely, preparing to step in if she tried to hurt Naruto in any way.

“Yeah? I mean, it’s not that hard…” Naruto trailed off in confusion, wondering why she was so excited about it. _Whoever gave it to her must be really bad at seals and accidentally messed it up so badly that they couldn’t take it off again…_ He assumed. Looking at her hopeful eyes with pity, he replied, “Yeah, I should be able to get it off in a week or two… I’d need to examine it in detail. There are a few fail-safes in there, that I’d have to deactivate manually before I can safely remove it.”

“Really?” Anko asked in joy. She hated the seal since the day her ex-sensei branded her with it and abandoned her, betraying the village. After trying everything possible, she’d thought that she’d be stuck with it forever. But now, she actually had a chance to be rid of this stain and move on from the past. It’ll no longer be hanging over her head as a reminder for what happened. “Dang, I’m not free anytime soon,” she belatedly remembered that she had to proctor the Chunin Exams that were coming up. “Isn’t there another faster way?” she asked.

“Well, I could use the Evil Releasing Method because it looks like it was a failed technique that made it, but then you’d have a mini-version of whoever gave it to you running around and that’d just be creepy…” Naruto scratched the back of his head, imagining a mini-him running around town. He shivered. Yup, way too creepy…

Anko paled at the thought of another Orochimaru running around Konoha. “Yeah, that’s not happening,” she shook her head, trying to dispel the thought. “Okay, I’m free in a week for about a month. Do you think you can take it off then?”

“Yeah, I should be able to,” Naruto nodded his head. “I guess I’ll see you here in a week,” Naruto said making a guts-pose. “Oh, and before I forget, if you need to find me, just look for Team 7 or Kakashi-sensei!”

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Blondie!” Anko ruffled Naruto’s hair and stood up, ignoring the boy’s protests at being called by that nickname. “I’ll see you in a week,” she confirmed and then shunshined out of there, leaving Sai and Naruto alone in the store. The two boys spent the rest of their day away, indulging in all the different ice-cream flavors they could find.

* * *

 

_Letter #7_

_We’re finally done with our C-rank! But it’s too bad Sasuke and Sakura are still stuck in a trance in the hospital… Kaka-sensei and me have to stay until they wake up for observation and it’s super booorrriiinng!!! There’s nothing to do in here except read, and I can’t even work on my seals because I’ve already finished the advanced book Kaka-sensei gave me. I’m going to ask Jiji for the next level book soon. He said that there were only two more to go: expert and master level. Then, I’d finally be a Seal Master like your teammate, Jiraiya! You know, at first, I didn’t think I’d like sealing that much because I hated reading in the academy and there were a lot of books. But, now, whenever I work on a seal, I feel closer to my parents in a way. Jiji told me that they both were Master Sealers and were awesome ninja! I’m going to be just like them when I grow up! Believe it! ~Naruto_

* * *

 

Iruka v. Team 7 Round 3: Naruto

The next day, Naruto went down to Training Ground #3 to practice his trapping skills. He didn’t want the skills he’d cultivated from years of pranks to grow rusty just because he didn’t practice. He set up five different levels of seals and sat down on the rock, satisfied with his work. He began his meditation practice for the day with Kurama to access his volatile chakra, just in case he ever needed to use it. Jiji said it was good practice for the future. The blonde crossed his legs, closing his eyes, slipping into his mindscape.

Iruka limped to the training ground he sensed Naruto at. After testing Sakura and Sasuke the day before, he was drained and really just wanted to head back home to sleep. _Only one more to go…_ He repeated in his head as he followed the trail. Walking into the clearing, he saw Naruto meditating on a rock in the middle of the training grounds. He transformed into the burly missing-nin from the day before and stepped forwards. “Hey, you…!” Before he could even threaten the blonde, a wire wrapped around his feet and pulled him across the clearing into the forest, suspending him upside down over a tree branch. _What just happened?_ He thought dazedly as another wire shot out towards him and tied his wrists together. Lifting his head up, he looked up and widened his eyes when he saw a large boulder heading towards him. “Shit!” Iruka cursed and struggled to get out of his bonds. Using the Rope Escape Technique, he quickly freed himself from his bonds and dodged the boulder. Right when he thought he was safe, the ground glowed. “Uh oh…” Iruka tensed up and gathered all the chakra he had to Shunshin away just as the ground erupted from all the explosion seals.

 _That was close._ Iruka wiped the sweat of his brow before stepping in the direction he thought Naruto was in. _Snap!_ Iruka paled as he felt himself trigger a hidden wire. He ducked to avoid the log aimed at his head and danced away from the dropping boulders. _Shit! Just when did Naruto have the time to set this all up?_ He Shunshined away again and found himself in another clearing in the forest. This time, he didn’t move and instead carefully checked the ground and trees for any traps. _Hmm, it doesn’t look like there’s anything here…_ He warily stepped forward and closed his eyes, waiting for something to happen. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes and tentatively stepped forward again. Gaining confidence, he walked normally to the edge of the clearing. _This is going well, maybe Naruto didn’t get around to trapping this area yet…_ He thought and kept walking until _BAM!_ He walked head first into a barrier! Groaning, he rubbed his nose and glared at the barrier in his way. _How do I get out of this?_ Iruka looked around, searching for the barrier seal, when he noticed the barrier moving! “Damnit!” Iruka cursed in alarm, frantically searching for the seal. _Where is it?_ Iruka desperately combed the ground as the seal tightened around him. _There!_ He shot a fire bullet at the paper, causing a disturbance in the barrier that he used to escape. _Phew, that was close!_ He sank down against a tree trunk, forgetting to check his surroundings for any seals. The trunk glowed and Iruka was sent flying towards the clearing Naruto was in. He collapsed right next to the stone Naruto was meditating on, barely conscious.

“Iruka-sensei!” Naruto called out in alarm seeing the state his teacher was in. “Are you okay?” he asked as he put out the fire on the Academy teacher’s vest.

“Huh, what? Naruto?” Iruka asked dazedly, before realizing where he was. His transformation had already dispelled from the amount of chakra he used to escape the traps in the forest.

“Yeah, Iruka-sensei, are you okay?” Naruto asked again in concern, helping the other man sit up.

Iruka blinked twice and waited for the ringing to stop before asking, “Did you set up all those traps and seals?”

“Yup!” Naruto nodded his head and smiled at Iruka who was staring at him in disbelief. “I set them up in the morning…” Naruto trailed off as he examined his traps. “It looks like someone set off the Level 1 traps…” He furrowed his eyebrows together as he dismantled the rest of his traps, not wanting anyone else to get caught in them.

“Level 1 traps?” Iruka repeated numbly.

“Yeah, I set up five different levels, but only the Level 1 traps went off. Whoever got stuck in them was lucky to not have triggered the other traps… I was going to send a shadow clone through them to see what would happen, but it looks like it’s already too late for that.” Iruka shuddered. If those were just the Level 1 traps he triggered, then what would the Level 5 traps be like? He turned his attention back to Naruto, listening to the blonde continue talking. “…and it’s strange that someone only triggered one of the Level 5 traps, but left before my shadow clone could help them out… Hey, Iruka-sensei, I forgot to ask you why you’re here!” Naruto bounced and asked excitedly.

“Oh, I was… I was about to go find your jounin-sensei,” Iruka quickly improvised. He couldn’t tell Naruto about the tests, and he wasn’t lying, not really. He _did_ need to go find Kakashi and tell him that all of his genin had passed the test.

“Kakashi-sensei? I think he might be at the Memorial Stone, he goes there a lot. Otherwise, I have no idea…” Naruto shrugged helplessly.

Wincing slightly, Iruka shoved himself off the ground and stood up. “Alright then. I’ll see you later, Naruto,” he said and ruffled the blonde’s head. Naruto waved goodbye to Iruka as he limped away from the training grounds. He found Kakashi sitting in front of the Memorial Stone, an orange book in his hands.

“So, do you still think that they’re not ready?” Kakashi asked, not looking up from his book.

Iruka grimaced. “I was wrong… They’re ready,” he admitted.

“Even Naruto?” Kakashi finally looked at Iruka and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Especially Naruto,” Iruka seriously said, remembering the traps the blonde made. _If he’s able to almost kill me, a Chunin, with only Level 1 traps when he has up to Level 5 traps, then he’ll have no trouble at all with the Exams!_

“Good. Don’t doubt them again,” Kakashi demanded, closing his book and putting it away. “I should get going now. I still need to give them their forms…”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting to see them in the finals!” Iruka called out to Kakashi right before the copy-nin Shunshined away. The masked-nin waved his hand at Iruka and then left in a flurry of leaves.

In the next clearing, Kakashi rubbed his sore arms. Being trapped upside down with barrier, restraining, chakra-draining and chakra-suppressing seals while thousands of kunai flew at you was not his idea of a good day. That last Level 5 trap of Naruto’s really impressed him. _Where did Naruto even learn how to trap like that? That almost killed ME, and I’m an ANBU! Or was an ANBU, anyways… I need to start training more. Maybe it’s time for that…_ He shuddered, but forced himself to not immediately toss out the idea. _Maybe, it’s finally time for me to go and… challenge Gai._ Kakashi grimaced. The idea of asking that man for a spar was too displeasing for words to describe, but he knew he was getting out of shape and what better way was there to get back into shape than sparring with that green stamina monster? He was going to get stronger for his students even if it meant interacting with Gai.

* * *

 

_Letter #8_

_Today, I took over as Clan Head at a public meeting! I had to show my chakra chains to the council as proof, but I did it! There are now four people in the Uzumaki Clan! Well, actually, there are technically six if you and your niece want to join. Even if you don’t want to join, I’ll still leave a spot for you guys in the clan! I guess I should tell you who else is in the clan. Well, first would be me, Naruto Uzumaki and I’m the Clan Head! Next is Kurama Uzumaki, I met him in Whirlpool. He’s snarky on the outside and looks scary, but is a big softy on the inside. He’s been unfairly blamed for a lot of bad things, but I was blamed for a lot of bad things too, so I know how he feels. Usually, he’s super lazy and likes to sleep a lot, sort of like Shika. My third member is Sai. He doesn’t have a last name and is my roommate. I found him in the library after his landlord kicked him out of his apartment for not paying the rent. My landlord sucks, so I had to let Sai join my clan to let him live with me, but I don’t regret it. He’s an orphan just like me and is also a genin. He’s super strong! I still can’t beat him in a spar just like with Sasuke… It was surprising to find out he had an old Root put seal on his tongue, but I helped him remove it. As for his hobbies, he likes to paint and people-watch. He doesn’t talk much, but is really kind. I trust him, even though we’ve only known each other for a few days. The last member of the clan is Sakura! Although, I think she only joined for the discounts on seals and other clan benefit, I’m glad she joined because she’s super smart and can help me out in the Clan Head Meetings I have to go to. It’s weird having a family that likes you. Sometimes I go out onto the streets and I forget that the villagers still hate my guts… It’s strange, but a good kind of strange to see my friends smiling at me or defending me against the villagers. I think I like it. ~Naruto_

* * *

 

Later that Day…

Naruto fingered the Exam sheet in excitement. He couldn’t believe that Kakashi was letting Team 7 take the Chunin Exams this year! _He must really believe in us!_ Naruto fist-pumped the air and whooped in joy.

 _What’s with you?_ Kurama asked, wondering why the blonde was more exuberant than usual.

 _Kaka-sensei entered us in the Chunin Exams! Isn’t it exciting?_ He babbled back.

 _Really?_ Kurama flicked his tails in interest as he lounged on his bed lazily. _Maybe you’ll meet one of my siblings. I feel my brother’s presence nearby…_

 _Cool! Where is he? I want to meet him!_ Naruto excitedly pestered the fox.

 _He’s in that direction._ Kurama guided the blonde. _Yeah, that’s it, keep going that way and… Stop! He’s right in front of you!_

Naruto skidded to a stop in front of a red-haired boy with love tattooed on his face. “Hi! I’m Naruto Uzumaki and since you’re Kurama’s bro, that makes you my bro! Come on, let me show you my favorite place to eat!” Naruto pulled him along with him.

* * *

 

Gaara was confused. He was sitting in a place called Ichiraku’s Ramen with a bowl of Miso Ramen in front of him listening to a blonde babble about the wonders of Ramen… He wasn’t exactly sure how he got into this situation. Usually when a stranger came near him, his mother would scream at him to kill them, but this time, his mother was actually silent. _Mother?_ He tried calling out again, but still heard nothing. Turning his attention back to the blonde, Gaara studied the other boy who had declared himself to be his brother. He had a brother. In fact, he also had a sister, although he didn’t talk much to either of them. They both were afraid of him, unlike the boy sitting in front of him. This blonde— _Naruto, he called himself Naruto—_ he reminded himself. Naruto, didn’t seem to find him terrifying. The orange-wearing boy was actually smiling at him and talking to him. The last person to do that was his uncle, and he’d tried to kill him…

“Why are you talking to me?” Gaara finally snapped. He clenched his chopsticks tightly, his knuckles turning white. _Is this all an elaborate plot to poison my noodles and kill me?_

“Because you’re my brother,” Naruto said in conviction. Family was family after all.

Gaara waited to feel the urge to kill the smiling blonde, but after a couple of minutes, he still felt nothing. _He must be too weak for me to waste my time on… He’s no threat to my existence._ Gaara tried to reason why he felt no bloodlust to the other boy. “You don’t even know who I am,” Gaara accused, narrowing his eyes at the blonde.

“Oh, right!” Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “I’m Naruto Uzumaki! What’s your name?” he asked, holding out his hand in greeting.

“Gaara.” The red-head ignored the held-out hand and stared down the other boy.

“Cool name! I bet you got it for your silky hair,” Naruto complimented, thinking red-head’s hair matched Kurama’s soft fur. He wondered how the fox was doing, talking to his brother in their shared mindscape. _I wonder if he showed his brother the hot tub yet?_ Naruto mused, finishing off another bowl of Ramen.

“Don’t you hate me?” Gaara finally asked the blonde, seeing him space out as he savored the noodles.

“Hate? Why would I hate you?” Naruto asked taken-aback. “You’re part of my _family_ ,” Naruto stressed the last word.

“My uncle tried to kill me and he was part of my family. My father was the one who ordered him to assassinate me,” Gaara stated bluntly.

“What!” Naruto raged in anger. He couldn’t believe that someone would be so cruel to their relatives. _Then again, Sasuke’s brother did kill his whole family…_ “Well, I like you,” Naruto huffed, and it was true too. He liked Gaara despite spending so little time with the other boy. The red-head actually let the blonde talk about whatever he wanted to and didn’t interrupt him, not even once! “You’re cool!”

Gaara still didn’t really understand why the other boy wasn’t running away from him in terror like the other villagers did, but found himself nodding in agreement. The other boy was… interesting. _I won’t kill you… yet._ Gaara decided and slurped up his Ramen. Widening his eyes at the taste, he took another forkful and another. “This is good,” he muttered while Naruto nodded. Ramen’s always good.

Naruto sighed in contentment, pushing his empty bowl in front of him. “Hey, did you see Konoha yet?” he asked Gaara who shook his head no. “Well, okay, I gotta show you all the cool places! Come on!” He leapt of his stool and dragged Gaara away with him, showing him everything from the Academy and the Hokage Monument to where he had his genin exams at and even his apartment! When he was finally finished with his tour, he took Gaara back to the hotel he was staying at and waved goodbye. “I’ll see you at the exams!” Naruto called over his shoulder as he ran back to his place. Gaara nodded stiffly, ignoring Kankuro’s and Temari’s inquisition of where in Kami he was and who the hell that blonde was.

Shutting the door to his room, Gaara looked out the window in the direction the blonde had disappeared in, wondering how tomorrow’s Chunin Exams were going to be. He stayed up that night, waiting for the next morning so he could meet that blonde again at the exams…

* * *

 

_Letter #9_

_We’re joining the Chunin exams this year! Kakashi-sensei just told us about it! It’s super exciting!!! I can’t wait for it! I’m a bit nervous because I had this super weird dream of a creepy guy (girl?) nibbling on Sasuke’s neck in the Forest of Death, but I’m going to warn him about it so it doesn’t come true. Anyways, I found out something that blew my mind! There’s Ramen-flavored ice-cream!!!!! It’s so amazing! I didn’t know about it until Sai took me out to have some. It was delicious! And tasted just like Ramen!!! I need to find whoever made it and introduce them to Teuchi at Ichiraku’s! I also met this purple-haired lady named Anko. She had this sucky seal on her neck that I’m helping her remove. I feel bad for her. Whoever gave that her seal must’ve been so bad at seals that they couldn’t remove it afterwards. It must’ve been embarrassing having that shoddy seal stuck on her neck for all those years… I’m glad I can help her finally remove it. Oh, and I also met my brother in town today. Well, he’s actually Kurama’s brother’s brother(?), but since Kurama is part of my family that makes him my brother too! He has red hair and really likes Ramen and is from Sand. He’s going to be in the Chunin Exams with me too! I’m pumped for the exams tomorrow. I better go to sleep so I don’t get tired during them. Wish me good luck! ~Naruto_

* * *

 

The Chunin Exams

The three members of Team 7 stood in front of the building where the first test would take place. “Okay, do you have your forms?” Sakura asked, taking out the checklist Kakashi had given her the day before.

“Yup, it’s right here!” Naruto took out his form and gave it to her. Sasuke also passed his form to Sakura who pocketed them along with hers.

“Great! What about soldier pills and food?” she read out the next item on the list.

“I have the soldier pills in my pouch and Naruto has the food sealed away,” Sasuke answered this time as Naruto nodded.

“Alright!” Sakura scanned the list, mentally checking of the first aid kit and healing supplies as she had those already in her pack, along with a change of clothes for everyone on their team. She read the list and dismissed everything until she saw something that caught her eye. “Naruto, do you have all your sealing stuff and enough ink?”

“Yup! I also made back-up gauntlets and a chakra pack for you and gave Sasuke the genjutsu and hidden-presence detecting seals,” Naruto said, pointing to the bracelets on Sasuke’s wrists. “Oh, and I also finished making these a few days ago!” He passed over another small bracelet to the both of them and told them to wear it on their ankles.

“What’s this do?” Sakura asked as she placed it around her foot, after admiring the small cherry blossoms painted on it.

“They’re supposed to let us talk secretly talk with each other without anyone knowing. You just have to send some chakra to the bracelet and we should be able to hear whatever you’re saying,” Naruto explained, showing her his anklet with orange swirls on it.

“Woah, that’s cool,” Sakura praised him. Even Sasuke looked impressed at what Naruto had made. He ran his thumb over the little fans on the anklet and silently placed it around his ankle.

“Hehe, thanks!” Naruto rubbed his nose with his index finger in pride.

“Now that we’re ready, let’s ace this exam! Shannaro!” Sakura exclaimed and led the other two boys up the stairs. “Room 301, here we come!” They marched up a flight of stairs and entered a circular room filled with genin. They paused and saw someone beat down a bowl-hair boy wearing a green jumpsuit.

 _Hey, aren’t they those people? The ones Kakashi told us about?_ Naruto channeled some chakra to his ankle bracelet and asked.

 _The members of Gai’s brainwashing cult…_ Sasuke thought back.

 _Yes, them. Should we help them out?_ Sakura wondered.

_We should do what Kakashi told us to! Okay, on three! One, two, three!_

“Dynamic Entry!” Naruto shouted as the three members of Team 7 took down the ninja that was about to punch the girl with the two buns on her head. He was looking forward to seeing how uncomfortable Sasuke would be with this plan.

“Prepare for trouble!” Sasuke yelled out, deeply regretting agreeing to this plan. _This wasn’t worth those extra Fire Jutsu scrolls…_  He thought in dismay.

“Make it double!” Sakura exclaimed as the rest of the genin in the room stared at them in disbelief. She was actually enjoying being the center of attention for once. _This was so worth those extra healing scrolls!_ She thought.

“To protect the world from devastation,” Sasuke repeated his lines in a monotone voice.

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!” Sakura passionately spoke out her lines.

“To extend our reach to the stars above!” Naruto joined in, grinning at Sasuke’s kill-me-now face.

“Sakura!” She held her arm out and took the position Kakashi had told her to.

“Sasuke!” He reluctantly copied Sakura, fighting back his embarrassment.

“Team 7, blast off at the speed of light!” Naruto continued trying not to laugh, also posing.

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!” all three of them chorused.

“Naruto! That’s right!” Naruto concluded making his finishing pose. The surrounding genin just blinked, still not believing what they just saw. The team of genin that was getting beat up just looked at their “saviors” in shock.

 _Now, we should sneak in past them!_ Sakura shook Sasuke out of his gloom and pushed him through the doors. They clanged shut behind Team 7, revealing a staircase that took them up to another larger room full of genin.

“Yo! Glad to see you here! How was the screening?” Kakashi asked from behind his genin, who stiffened up slightly in surprise.

“Kaka-sensei!” Naruto blurted out, jumping up and wrapping his arms around the masked-man. “You’re here!”

“Of course, I am! I couldn’t be late to my genin’s big day now, could I?” he eye-smiled at them and stroked Naruto’s hair, not even trying to shake off his clingy genin. “So how was it so far?” he asked as he handed over the forms Sakura had given him to the proctors.

“Oh, yeah! We did what you told us to and they were so surprised!” Naruto bragged, finally letting go. Kakashi pouted underneath his mask. He actually _liked_ being hugged by his genin.

“Yeah, you should’ve seen their faces! It was so funny!” Sakura added in.

“It looks like you guys had a lot of fun. Even Sasuke, wow!” Kakashi said as his eye crinkled into a real smile.

“Hnn,” Sasuke blushed, the tips of his ears slightly red.

“Well, I’m glad you’re all having fun. Remember to be careful. I have to go soon, so is there anything else you want to tell me before I head off?” Kakashi didn’t want to leave his cute little genin, but he knew it was almost time for the tests to begin.

“Wait, I have something for you,” Naruto tugged on Kakashi’s sleeve and fished out a bracelet with little painted scarecrows from his pocket seal. “It’s supposed to let you talk to us if you channel chakra into it. We all have one already, so it only felt right for you to have one as you’re also part of Team 7!” They lifted up their feet to show Kakashi their anklets.

“Also, according to the exam guidelines, it isn’t against the rules to mentally communicate with someone, because of the Yamanaka Clan’s special jutsus,” Sakura piped up.

Kakashi tightened his grip around the bracelet, cradling it gently. Although he signed up his team for the exams this year, he was worried for them. He really didn’t want them to go into the exams alone, without any backup. Who knows what trouble they’d get in without him. But now, they’d given him a way to stay in touch with them just because they’d noticed him worrying about them. This was more than he could hope for from a genin team. They really thought of him as part of them. They wouldn’t just leave him after they got promoted into Chunin. “I’ll take care of this,” Kakashi said softly, placing it around his wrist. He then ruffled each of his genin’s heads twice, for good measure, and then Shunshined away to the jounin-sensei waiting room.

Sakura looked at Naruto and then Sasuke. “Let’s go and find Teams 8 and 10,” she suggested as the other two just nodded in agreement. They made their way through the crowd, going in the direction of where they thought they heard Kiba’s boisterous voice. As they made their way there, they spotted the genin team from before with their jounin-sensei.

 _They multiplied…_ Sakura thought in horror.

 _No, it’s a clone!_ Naruto thought back.

 _I think, that he might have…_ Sasuke gulped before continuing. _Reproduced…_ Naruto and Sakura both blanched at that though, goosebumps breaking out on their skin. _Let’s just avoid them._ Sasuke implored with a hint of dread in his voice. Sakura and Naruto immediately agreed, not wanting to be anywhere near that terrifying twosome.

 _Hey! I think I see Choji over there!_ Naruto pointed across from them. Team 7 headed over in that direction.

Ino felt her Sasuke-sensor go off and hurled herself at Sasuke. “Sasuke-kun~!” Sasuke saw her coming and shifted to the side, dodging her tackle. Ino growled and somersaulted, landing on her feet in front of Naruto.

“Are you trying to become a tiger instead of a pig, with all that growling?” Sakura playfully teased.

“Shut it, forehead,” Ino mocked back. Standing up, she walked up to Sakura. “So, got any plans for the exams?” she asked, finally serious.

Sakura nodded. “We have something to give you guys after the first part of the exams. We don’t want the other genin teams to find out about it yet…”

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at them in surprise. “You know what the exams are?”

“Well… Not really,” Sakura admitted. “Naruto had a dream about a forest and a creep after Sasuke. He was adamant that the first part of the exams would be a written test while the next part would take place in the Forest of Death.” Sakura shrugged as they turned their gazes towards the blonde. “If it turns out he’s right, we’re going to need all the help we can get…” Shikamaru and Ino nodded. Although they were battling each other, they still didn’t want anyone from Team 7 to get hurt when they could’ve helped.

“Hey, where’s Choji?” Naruto squinted his eyes at the crowd, searching for the larger boy.

“He went to get Team 8. Ah, there he is right now,” Ino pointed out them out.

“Hey guys!” Kiba greeted as Akamaru yipped hello. “So, I guess we’re all here after all! What’re you guys plotting?” he asked, noticing Sakura’s and Ino’s scheming looks.

“Oh, nothing that Hinata doesn’t already know about… But if the second part of the exam is in the Forest of Death, come find us before it starts. We have something to give you guys,” Sakura commanded.

“O-Ok,” Hinata shyly answered.

“I must say, there are a lot of people in this exam. There might be a preliminary round,” Shino deliberated and said aloud.

“That doesn’t matter! No matter who they send, I’ll beat them down!” Kiba proudly announced, attracting the attention of the surrounding genin.

“Would you guys do us all a favor and shut up?” a glasses-wearing genin came up to them and crossed his arms. “This isn’t a school fieldtrip for a bunch of still wet-behind-the-ears genin.”

“The hell are you?” Kiba demanded as Akamaru growled at the other boy.

“Hey now, no need to get angry. My name’s Kabuto and I just wanted to warn you guys to quiet down before a team to snapped and beat you up. I should know, I’ve taken the Chunin Exams six times before. This time’s my seventh!” Kabuto puffed out his chest in pride.

Sasuke just snorted. “That means nothing except that you’ve failed six times...” Naruto nodded, still eyeing the glasses-wearing genin. Something about him just rubbed him the wrong way.

 _He feels false, Kit. Not like that blank one with dulled emotions. This one is more like a hidden river of lava, slowly churning underneath the Earth’s surface, just waiting to erupt. Stay away from him…_ The Kyuubi warned Naruto, temporarily waking from his nap.

 _Ok._ Naruto thought back, agreeing with the fox’s diagnosis. “Yeah, why’re you talking to us anyways!” the blonde asked, suspicious of the other’s motives. The other genin, noticing Naruto’s hostility to the other boy, decided to keep their distance from the glasses-wearing genin. They knew Naruto wouldn’t hate someone for no reason.

“I felt bad for you rookies. Seeing as we’re all from the same village, I thought I’d help you sweet little babies out by giving you some vital information about the other shinobi.” He flourished his hand out, revealing a set of blank cards with the word “Shinobi” inscribed on them. “I have information on all the genin here, I just have to insert some of my chakra into these cards to reveal it.”

“How do we know you aren’t lying to us?” Naruto asked, still wary of the other boy.

“Why don’t I show you what I have about your team, and then you can decide if I’m telling the truth or not…” Kabuto said, drawing three cards from the pack. “Sakura Haruno. Missions to date: 7 D-rank, 1 C-rank, and 1 A-rank. Wow, impressive, going on an A-rank as a rookie! Your jounin-sensei is Kakashi Hatake, also known as Copy-cat Kakashi or Kakashi of the Sharingan. Your Taijutsu has significantly improved from the academy and you have high chakra control. You were also the top Kunoichi of your year.” Sakura beamed in pride of her accomplishments. The surrounding genin (except those on Teams 8 and 10) stared bug-eyed at Team 7, wondering how they’d already completed an A-rank mission. “Sasuke Uchiha. Same number of missions as your teammate. You were the Top Ranked Rookie from your class and excel at every subject, especially fire techniques. Although, since you activated your Sharingan recently, you’ve taken to learning Genjutsu.” Sasuke glared at Kabuto, wondering how the other genin knew about his Sharingan.

 _I don’t trust him…_ Naruto thought to his teammates.

 _Yeah, how could he figure out all that stuff unless he was spying on us?_ Sakura agreed.

 _Let’s avoid him. I don’t like how he’s revealing our information to the other teams…_ Sasuke said.

“And finally, Naruto Uzumaki, the dead-last of the Academy.” Naruto stiffened slightly, making the other genin glower at Kabuto, with barely concealed rage. No one insulted their blonde when they were around! And to do it right in front of them? This genin must have a death wish! “Let’s see. Although you have tons of stamina, your Taijutsu is sloppy. You also have an enormous amount of chakra, enough to throw around Shadow Clones as if they were just Bunshin. No Genjutsu talent or chakra control whatsoever. Hmm, it also says that you’ve picked up a few wind techniques. How interesting… Oh! What’s this? It says that you’ve taken a B-rank mission without your team. Actually, it says you did the B-rank even before you got a team. How did that happen?” Kabuto looked the blonde in the eye questioningly, but Naruto just scowled at him.

 _…Dobe?_ Sasuke asked hesitantly, seeing how livid Naruto’s face was. _You alright?_

_He’s not supposed to know about that. According to Jiji, no one’s supposed to know about that mission because of security risks. I knew there was something wrong about him!_

_Kashi-sensei, are you listening?_ Sakura asked, seeing Naruto’s mounting inner anger.

 _Hmm? What’s wrong Sakura?_ Kakashi asked lazily.

 _We want you to report a potential spy to the Hokage. There’s this genin from Konoha named Kabuto, and he found out about a mission Naruto did that no one is supposed to know about…_ Sakura explained.

 _Which mission?_ Kakashi’s serious voice echoed in their heads. He summoned Pakkun and began writing a report to the Hokage regarding this.

 _Just tell Jiji that it was the mission about… Mizuki and that he knew it was a B-rank._ Sasuke and Sakura sucked in a breath when they heard Naruto say the mission had to do with their missing Academy Teacher. Naruto continued, ignoring their reaction. _There’s no way a genin could’ve found out about that mission even if they were spying on everyone! Jiji said it was classified and an A-ranked secret._

Teams 8 and 10 noted Team 7’s postures stiffening and their aversion to Kabuto. They figured that there must be something off about that genin if all three of them avoided him. They too distanced themselves from the glasses-wearing genin who just rubbed his nose, wondering why they were suddenly wary of him. “Hey, do you have anyone you want to know the information of?” he asked, trying to distract them.

“What about you?” Shikamaru asked, sensing that Team 7 didn’t trust this guy at all.

“Me?” Kabuto asked taken-aback. Noticing their gazes on him, he began, “Well I have taken 191 official missions in total: 163 D-rank and 28 C-rank. I excel in using Kunai and Shuriken, but am not that good at Genjutsu. My teammates are Yoroi Akado and Misumi Tsurugi. Actually, speaking of my teammates, I better go over there and join them. Good luck with your exams!” He waved goodbye to the rookies and disappeared into the crowd. The genin relaxed, seeing that he was gone. Naruto opened his mouth, about to talk when a loud voice interrupted him.

“Shut up maggots! My name is Ibiki Morino, and I’m in charge of proctoring the first part of this exam. Sit down in your assigned seat and keep your papers faced down. I’ll write the rules on the board. If you get disqualified for not reading them, that isn’t my fault, got it piglets?” Ibiki commanded the genin who gulped and quickly took their seats.

Naruto slid in next to Hinata and turned around, finding Sasuke and Sakura positioned far away from him. He turned back to the board and skimmed the rules. _I knew it! It is a paper test! Sasuke, you better watch out for the creeper in the forest, ok?_

_Got it Dobe._

_Teme!_

_Shut up! The exam is about to start. Pay attention!_ Sakura mentally screamed. Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi winced at the high-pitched shriek.

 _Hey, watch it, you’re going to blow out your sensei’s ears this way!_ Kakashi reprimanded.

_Sorry sensei, I forgot you were there…_

Kakashi pouted. _My cute little genin forgot about me…_ Team 7 sweat-dropped and turned their attention back to the written test.

 _Let’s see…_ He scanned the list of questions, trying to answer them before giving up. _Yup, there’s no way I can answer any of these…_ Naruto projected to his two teammates.

 _These questions… I can’t answer them either…_ Sasuke admitted. He looked at the board wondering what was with this test. Rereading the rules, he realized something. _Wait, they said it’s only two points off if they catch you cheating! This must be an intelligence gathering test!_

 _Well, we’re lucky we have these bracelets then, because I just happened to know all these answers._ Sakura bragged, smirking as she heard Naruto sigh in relief.

Naruto grinned. _Phew, I was worried for nothing then! So, Sakuuurrra-chan~, wanna tell us all the answers?_

_Yeah, yeah, hang on. Let me finish writing them down and then I’ll project the answers across the bracelet so you guys can copy them down…_

_Aww, my cute little genin have already passed the first part of the exam without my help! They grow up so fast!_ He mimed wiping away a tear.

The rest of the jounin-sensei in the room just watched Kakashi in amusement. “Already crying for your genin, Kakashi?” Kurenai smirked at him.

“Yeah, I’m just so sad to see them growing up so fast!” he answered honestly. Kurenai sweat-dropped.

“Wait, you actually think they’ll pass? It’s Ibiki, you know, _that_ Ibiki!” Asuma stressed.

“Ibiki?” Kurenai asked.

“Oh yeah, you weren’t part of the Elite Jounin for long, so you don’t know. Their proctor is Ibiki Morino, the commanding officer of Torture and Interrogation.”

“He’s a master at mind games,” Kakashi added. He was looking forward to seeing his genin again after the second part of the exam. He was sure that they’d pass. _Are you guys teaming up with Teams 8 and 10 for the second part?_ He mentally asked them.

 _Yup, that’s the plan!_ Naruto thought back, finishing up copying down Sakura’s answers on his test. _We think that someone super strong is going to try to molest Sasuke in the forest, so we’re teaming up to stop him._

 _That’s only what you think!_ Sasuke retorted. _Don’t listen to him, Kashi-sensei! We’re actually teaming up because it’s a good tactical plan._

 _Yeah! Shikamaru even agreed that it’d make more sense for us to team up for the second part of the exam if it was in the Forest of Death._ Sakura elaborated.

 _Alright, so long as you know what you’re doing…_ Kakashi thought back in reply. _Oh right, I sent Pakkun to the Third about Kabuto and he said that they’d already suspected Kabuto as a spy for a long time, and that they’d be watching him. Don’t get too close to him, he might not actually be a genin._ Kakashi warned them.

 _Alright Kaka-sensei!_ Naruto chirped back obediently. Their conversation finished just in time for Ibiki to announce the last question.

“It’s time for the tenth question! Now, you can choose to take it or you can give up on the question and quit the exam. If you choose to take it and get it wrong, then…” He smiled a shark-like grin, “Then, you’ll be banned from ever taking the Chunin Exams ever again!”

 _What!_ All three genin thought in alarm. The others shifted nervously, until a team finally broke the silence. “We choose to forfeit,” they voluntarily left the room with their belongings.

 _Guys…_ Sakura thought nervously. She didn’t want them to never be able to take the Chunin Exams ever again. It was alright if she and Sasuke couldn’t take them, because their dreams had nothing to do with Ninja rankings, but Naruto, he wanted to be Hokage! _Naruto, I think that we should give up…_ Sasuke remained silent. He didn’t really care about these exams, but giving up like this… It didn’t feel good.

Naruto was shocked. _Why? Why do you want to give up all of a sudden, Sakura? We’re ready for this. We prepared for hours, going over so many strategies with the others. We made it this far. Why do you want to pull out now?_ He asked heatedly. Sakura didn’t answer. How could she tell him that it was for him she wanted to pull out? _Are you scared of the forest creep, Sakura? Don’t worry! We planned everything out, we’ll succeed! Believe it! I’ll protect you with my life!_

 _No! You can’t sacrifice yourself for us! I don’t want to go on because I don’t want you to give up on being Hokage! Your dream might be crazy, but I don’t want it to be taken away from you forever!_ She blurted out. Kakashi remained silent. He knew his genin had to decide this by themselves.

“Don’t underestimate me!” Naruto slammed his hand down on the desk, startling the other genin. “I don’t quit and I don’t run! I’ll accept that stupid question even if it means I stay genin forever! I don’t care! I’ll still become the Hokage by pure stubbornness! I’m not afraid!” Naruto shouted before realizing what he said. _Aw, shit! I meant to think that to you, not say it out loud!_ Sasuke couldn’t help himself when he heard Naruto say that. He put his head down on the desk, trying to muffle his snickering. _Stop laughing at me! It’s not funny, it’s embarrassing!_ Naruto thought to them, his ears turning red. That made Sakura burst out into giggles which she tried to hide with her hands, but couldn’t stop them from coming out. _Guys…_ Naruto whined, hiding his head in his hands. His cheeks tinted red now. Kakashi burst out into laughter in the jounin lounge, surprising the other sensei.

“It’s nothing, I just remembered funny joke…” Kakashi wiped a tear away from his one good eye. He was proud of his genin. Only they could destroy Ibiki’s test so thoroughly.

Once the laughter died down, Ibiki said, “Okay, now that the… _interruptions_ are over, I’ll ask you one last time. This decision could affect the rest of your life, quit now while you still have a chance,” Ibiki warned.

“I never go back on my work, it’s part of my ninja way!” Naruto voiced out, figuring he‘d already spoke up once so doing it again didn’t really make much of a difference. No one moved. They were all waiting for Ibiki’s verdict.

“Hmm,” Ibiki raised his eyebrow at the crowd, seeing none of the genin about to give up. “Good call. Those of you still here, congratulations, you’ve just passed the first exam!” The genin in the room were stunned that they had passed the exam without doing anything.

“Wait a moment, what about the tenth question!” Ino asked, her voice low in accusation.

“There is no tenth question, beyond the whole reject or accept thing…” Ibiki grinned at the fuming genin. Irritating people always made him happy, why else would he have joined T & I? He was literally getting paid for psyching people out until they confessed. It was a job tailormade for sadists like him. _Speaking of sadists, I better hurry, who knows when Anko will get here…_

“Then why’d we have to suffer through the other nine questions? That was a total waste of our time!” a blonde girl with spiky hair lashed out in anger.

“There was no waste. Those questions also served a purpose!”

“Such as?” the girl from before asked, still not buying it.

“Our goal was to test your skills at spying!” Ibiki continued. “Remember the rules? I pressured you by saying that you either pass or fail as a three-man cell. I forced you to fear bringing down your teammates with your mistakes.” Shikamaru nodded. He understood the psychological affect this would have on weak-minded people. “However, the questions were beyond Chunin level, so most of you reached the same conclusion that you could only gain points through cheating.”

 _So, I was right… It was a test to see how well you gathered information._ Sasuke thought, glancing at Naruto and Sakura who nodded at him.

“In other words, we wanted you to cheat! There were two jounin in the room that already knew all the answers… Of course, if you cheated in a clumsy or obvious way, you’d fail…” Ibiki unwrapped the black cloth on his head, exposing countless puncture wounds and scars marring his bald head. “Because there may be circumstances where being caught in an act of espionage may cost you more than your lives…”

 _Torture…_ The thought echoed in all the genin’s minds. Sakura gulped seeing the damage. How could anyone be so cruel?

“If you bring back intelligence from a suspect source or compromised operation, then you’re doing the enemies’ work for them, putting those you serve in danger. That’s why we maneuvered you into cheating. It was the quickest way to weed out those whose skills weren’t up to snuff,” Ibiki finished as he rewrapped his black cloth around his bald head.

“Okay… But what about the tenth question?” the spiky-haired blonde girl asked, conceding that Ibiki had a point.

“Ah! The tenth question was the first real test of the exam! It was a choice between two decisions that were both difficult and dangerous. It was a nasty, unfair, no-win set of options.” The genin were confused. They didn’t understand the point of the question, was it just to scare them or did it have another meaning? “So why did I present them? Let’s say that you’re a Chunin and you get assigned a mission to steal a vital enemy document when you know nothing about your foes and have to cross a heavily-trapped and mined territory. Now, do you accept the mission? Or do you reject it, not wanting to place your life, or your companions’ lives, in danger?” realization dawned on some of the genin, and they looked at Ibiki in comprehension. “Of course not! Regardless of the risks, there will be missions you cannot decline! A ninja must demonstrate valor, inspiring those around him to overcome their fears! That is the talent we most value in the Commander of a Chunin cell!” Ibiki finished proudly.

“Yeah! We passed the first test!” Naruto whooped in excitement. Ibiki eyed the exuberant blonde. This genin had inspired the rest of the test-takers into not giving up on the tenth question, overcoming the mental challenge Ibiki himself had designed. The jounin still couldn’t figure out how his team had cheated. From what he could tell, the pink girl didn’t need any help to answer the questions, but how did the Uchiha and the blonde get the answers? They didn’t employ any of the methods the other teams used. In fact, whatever they used allowed them to communicate with each other without anyone knowing. He’d seen the pink genin about to give up when the blonde one had his outburst, and that was no coincidence. If they found out a way to talk to each other without anyone noticing… He drooled at the possibilities it brought for the Intelligence department. _I’ve got to talk to Kakashi and ask him what his genin are using. It’s okay if they don’t want to reveal it, but… It absolutely has to stay out of Danzo’s clutches. Who knows what he’d do with a thing like that?_ Ibiki sweated and shook his head free of any stray thoughts, clearing his mind. He was going to watch the orange youngster, as he had the potential to become one of the greatest ninja of them all.


	9. The Eighth Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished this chapter up tonight! Updates are probably going to be really slow because of college and exams, but I'll try to post as I finish up a chapter.  
> Thanks for the bookmarks, kudos, and comments. They're always awesome to read! :)  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

* * *

 

The Forest of Death

Sasuke looked at the Forest of Death in apprehension. It looked like Naruto was right about the second exam. He shivered. No one, no matter what Naruto said he saw, was going to bite his neck in there today, not if he could help it! He clenched his fists again.

“Oh, there you guys are!” Shikamaru said, stopping right next to Sasuke. “I don’t think our plan of teaming up is going to work,” he said.

“Why not?” asked Sakura. Naruto also turned his questioning gaze at the pineapple-haired boy.

“See those gates,” Shikamaru pointed towards the entrance of the Forest of Death. “Each team has to go through a different one. And there’s 44 gates, so there’s no way to tell where in the forest we’ll end up.”

“We will endeavor to find you in the forest,” Shino piped in from behind them, spooking the genin.

“I thought I told you not to do that!” Naruto jumped up and tried to calm down his rapidly beating heart.

“Sorry,” Shino said in a monotone voice. “I think I have a way around the gates,” he continued, attracting Sakura’s and Shikamaru’s interest. “I can bug you guys now so we can easily find you in there,” he explained. “My Kikaichu can signal me from one end of Konoha to the other. The Forest will not pose a challenge to them.” Shikamaru nodded. That could work.

“Sounds good,” Sakura also agreed, allowing Shino to place a bug on her. She watched the rest of Team 7 and 10 get the same treatment before she spoke up again. “Oh, and before I forget, here,” she handed them each a painted bracelet and told them to place it on their ankles. “Just channel some chakra in them and we will be able to contact each other,” she explained. Shikamaru took the deer and pineapple covered bracelet and quickly slipped it around his ankle. Choji did the same with the butterflies and food covered anklet. Shino put on the bug bracelet, while Kiba put on the dog bracelet. Hinata took the moon bracelet and carefully pulled it over her foot onto her ankle.

“Woah, I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Ino remarked, dangling the bracelet between her fingers, smiling at the colorful flowers that decorated hers.

“That’s because Naruto made them specially for us,” Sakura said, smiling at the blonde whose face flushed pink. The genin took a moment to admire his blush before they thanked Naruto.

“I just wanted us to not get hurt…” Naruto muttered a little flustered. No one had ever wanted something he made before, much less thanked him for it. Whenever they made projects in the Academy, no one wanted to exchange theirs with his. They wouldn’t even accept his, calling it unlucky or ugly or just tossing it away into the trash... This was the first time someone had been happy to receive something he worked on.

Shikamaru noticed the blonde’s discomfort and steered the conversation away from him. “Alright, so we’ll try finding each other in the forest using these bracelets and by relying on Shino’s bugs. While we’re in the forest, we’ll collect all the scrolls we can to reduce the competition. Is there anyone you think we have to watch out for?”

“Kabuto,” Sasuke instantly replied. “Kakashi says he’s a suspected spy.” Seeing the other genin’s confusion at how Kakashi had told them that, he elaborated, “He has a bracelet too…”

“Okay, so we’ll avoid him. Anyone else to look out for?” Shikamaru nodded and asked.

“Ne-Neji-nii-san’s Team is strong. I still can’t beat him in a spar,” Hinata admitted, twirling her two index fingers together.

 _If Hinata can’t beat him, what type of monster is he?_ Ino and Sakura thought in unison, not realizing that the last time Hinata fought with him was before the Academy…

“That’s Gai-sensei’s Team, right?” Naruto asked. Hinata nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, Kaka-sensei said they were strong! Oh, and we have to watch out for Gaara’s Team! He’s really strong.” Naruto pointed out a red-haired boy with a large gourd on his back.

Shikamaru nodded, mentally deciding to find out who the red-head was after the exams were over. “I think those are all the people we should avoid—”

“What? Why should we avoid them? Why can’t we beat them in the forest?” Kiba cut him off and Akamaru barked in agreement. Sasuke also nodded his head, wondering why they couldn’t fight them.

“Because,” Shikamaru rolled his eyes at Kiba’s eagerness. “Naruto said someone really powerful was going to try to jump Sasuke, so we have to save up our strength.”

“Oh, that makes sense!” Kiba nodded in understanding while Shikamaru just sweat-dropped. _And because we don’t want to use up all our strength in just the second exam…_ The pineapple-haired genin thought, testing out the bracelet.

Sasuke scoffed. “When’s the proctor getting here, anyways?” he asked, roving his eyes across the restless crowd. “They already told us the rules and gave us our scrolls, so why can’t we start yet?” he complained when suddenly a kunai shot forward, barely nicking his cheek. It was attached to a rope that suspended a banner reading: ‘Newly arrived second chief examiner officer Mitarashi Anko!’ A purple-haired kunoichi dropped down onto the training grounds right in front of Sasuke.

“How could you even think of starting the exams without the strong and beautiful Anko?” she asked staring at Sasuke who averted his eyes. She finally looked at the crowd and let out a whistle, “Wow, 78 people left! Ibiki really let the ball drop on this exam! By the time I’m through with you, only half of you will be left. Get to your gates, the Exam will begin in 15 minutes!” She smirked at the fleeing crowd before her eyes strayed over to a familiar blonde.

“Blondie! You’re taking this exam?” she asked, throwing her arms around Naruto’s neck. Naruto grunted from the burden of her weight. “You never told me you’d be here, otherwise I would’ve come by and wished you luck! So, how’s the work on it coming along?” she asked.

Naruto realized she was talking about the weird seal on her neck and answered, “I’m almost done deciphering it, and then I’ll just need to deactivate the traps!”

“Good, good,” Anko nodded her head and ruffled Naruto’s blonde locks. “You better not die in there, Blondie, I’m counting on you!”

Then she shunshined away, as Naruto fumed, “My name’s not Blondie!” The others didn’t know what to make of this display, wondering how Naruto knew the proctor.

Deciding to ask him about it after the exam, Shikamaru said, “Let’s go to our gates. We only have ten minutes left over…”

“Right!” Kiba said before dragging Shino over to Gate 16. Hinata followed them after she waved at the other genin. Team 10 also headed over to Gate 27, while Team 7 went over to Gate 12.

“Ready for this?” Naruto asked excitedly, gripping his kunai.

“Hnn,” Sasuke smirked as one of the jounin unlocked the Gate, letting them in.

“You bet I’m ready!” Sakura grinned at her teammates, waiting for the signal.

“Part Two of the Chunin Ninja Selection Exam begins NOW!” Anko’s voice echoed across the Forty-fourth Training Ground.

* * *

“Aaaaand, it’s a Heaven Scroll…” Naruto pouted, tossing the extra scroll into his pocket seal. They’d just been attacked by a genin team from Amegakure who tried to impersonate him when he went to the bathroom. Of course, seeing through the imposer, Sasuke immediately asked Naruto if he was in front of them through the bracelet. It was easy for them to have Sakura distract the phony while Sasuke trapped him in the genjutsu Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique. By the time Naruto finished his business, they’d already stripped and tied up the other ninja, waiting for Naruto.

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Sakura frowned.

 _Hey, those sensor seals you gave me are going off._ Sasuke thought to them.

Naruto tilted his head. _Really, let me check…_ He focused on the seal and felt a disturbance in the bushes next to them. _Yup, there’s definitely someone hiding there, I think they’re eavesdropping on us…_

 _Quick, ask us how we knew it wasn’t you!_ Sakura commanded, formulating a plan.

 _Why should I—_ Naruto began but was cut off.

 _Just do it!_ Sakura snapped.

 _Alright, sheesh._ Naruto cleared his throat. “So, how’d you guys know it wasn’t me?”

“They wore their Shuriken Throwing Stars on their left thigh,” Sasuke played along.

“Oh! That makes sense!” Naruto exclaimed, still not seeing where his teammates were going with this.

“Right, if this happens again, we’re going to need a secret password so we know who’s who,” Sakura suggested. _This way we’ll easily be able to tell who the imposter is. We’ll pretend to ask for the password, but secretly check with our bracelets._

Naruto nodded. “Sounds good, what password are we using?”

“Let’s use the poem Ninki-Ninja Opportunity. When I ask for the password you say: We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet Shinobi don’t need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait, until the enemy lowers the gate,” Sasuke recited, continuing the charade.

“And you expect me to remember that… HOW?!” Naruto asked, forgetting this was fake for a moment.

“You’re such a dunce. I’ve already got it down!” Sakura laughed. _Idiot! You don’t actually have to memorize it, remember the plan?_

“We need a better password. What about Swordfish?” Naruto suggested. _Oh yeah, I forgot for a second._

Sasuke stiffened as he felt the sensor seal indicate the spying ninja was retreating. _Ok, he fell for it. He’s gone now._ “Come on, let’s get going.” Sakura and Naruto got up off the ground, stretching out their backs.

“Yeah! Let’s—Ow!” Naruto winced, feeling something nick his cheek. “What the…” he trailed off as a huge gust of wind blew at them. _Shit! Sasuke, watch out! I think the lecher from my dream is coming! Guys, where are you?_ Naruto called out to Teams 8 and 10.

 _We’re an hour and a half away, there’s no way we’ll be able to make it there on time!_ Shino replied. _Team 10 is closer to you. They’re only about 45 minutes away. I’ll give them directions to where you are, can you hold out for that long?_

 _We’ll try to…_ Naruto replied back right as there was a huge explosion.

 _Naruto! Are you guys okay?_ Shikamaru cursed. They were heading in Team 7’s direction as fast as they could, but he still didn’t know if they’d make it in time.

 _Just keep going in that direction! Hurry!_ Shino urged, as Team 10 sped up.

Kakashi paced in the jounin lounge. He wanted to drop everything and join his genin, but he knew if he did, then they’d be disqualified for outside interference. He continued pacing. _Hope they’re alright…_ He thought, clutching the bracelet Naruto gave him.

Sasuke got out from underneath the bush he hid under, coming face-to-face with Sakura. “Stay back! What’s the password?” he asked. _Is that you?_

“Oh right! It’s we thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet Shinobi don’t need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait, until the enemy lowers the gate!” Sakura recited. _It’s me!_

They both sighed in relief before tensing up again as a blonde came out of the forest. “Yow! Are you guys all right?”

“Not so fast Naruto, the password!” Sakura commanded. _Is that you, Naruto?_

“Right, Ninki! We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet Shinobi don’t need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait, until the enemy lowers the gate!” the blonde said.

 _No, it’s not me! They’re an imposter!_ Naruto yelled in his mind, as he pushed himself up off the ground. Sasuke immediately launched a Kunai at the imposter, while Sakura powered up her gauntlets.

“Hey, what are you doing? I got the password right!” the fake-Naruto yelled as he dodged.

“Humph. If you were really Naruto, you wouldn’t know the password, much less dodge my Kunai!” Sasuke snorted and attacked again.

“Heh,” the fake-Naruto’s face scrunched up into an evil smirk before dispelling into a long-haired ninja from Kusagakure. “Well done! This is going to be more fun than I thought~!” He licked his lips with his long tongue.

Sasuke shuddered. _I think I believe you about the biting thing, Naruto…_

 _Wait, seriously! There’s a ninja who wants to munch on Sasuke’s neck?_ Kiba asked in bewilderment. _I thought you guys were joking about that!_

 _You’re nearing them. At the next copse of trees, take a right and continue in that direction until you reach a cave._ Shino continued directing.

 _Shut up, Dog-breath!_ Ino thought, in between panting as they rushed towards where Team 7 was.

 _Everyone, shut up! We’re in the middle of something!_ Sakura yelled back, making the rest of the genin quiet down. She silently shifted in Sasuke’s direction, motioning him to start the attack. Sasuke nodded and readied his hands, about to make a fireball when an intense pressure settled on them, forcing them to their knees. Sasuke shivered, bent over, and emptied out his guts. _What the hell? He just looked at us and made Sasuke throw up!_ Sakura thought through their link in disbelief.

 _I saw it—I mean us—I mean he just killed us!_ Sasuke stammered, still not able to throw off the illusion.

 _Stay away from him! Whoever this is, they’re not a genin!_ Kakashi yelled at them, tensing as he heard his genin’s fear through the link. _I’m going to go ask the Hokage what’s going on, stay alive, I’ll be there soon!_ He promised and shunshined out of the room. The rest of the jounin-sensei just stared at the empty spot Kakashi had been in, in confusion, wondering why he’d disappeared.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto wasn’t having much better luck. _Guys, are there supposed to be really big snakes in this forest?_ Naruto asked as he backed away from the large green reptile in front of him.

 _Where are you?_ Shikamaru asked in frustration from hearing Team 7 in trouble but not being able to help them at all.

 _He’s about five minutes away from Sasuke and Sakura…_ Shino replied.

 _Shit! The tail!_ Naruto thought in a panic, not realizing he was broadcasting to the other genin, who tensed up, waiting to hear from him. _Aaaaarghhh!_ Naruto screamed, shocking Sasuke out of his genjutsu-induced stupor.

 _Naruto?!_ He asked in panic, as he and Sakura backed away from the long-tongued ninja in front of them.

 _It ate me! What the heck? Get me outta here!_ Naruto raged, pounding on the inside of snake he was trapped in.

 _Were you just… eaten by a snake?_ Choji asked in disbelief.

 _Yeah, now I just got to make it barf…_ Naruto paused as an idea struck him. _That’s it!_ “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” he called out, stuffing the snake full of shadow clones until it exploded into chunks of bloody meat raining down from the sky. _Phew, now I just need to find Sasuke and Sakura!_ Naruto thought, clenching his fists.

 _Be careful, Kit._ Kurama warned, having woken up from all the excitement.

 _I will._ Naruto promised and ran in the direction he thought they were in.

* * *

“Sas—” Sakura tried calling out to him, but he covered her mouth with his hand.

 _We need a plan. Team 10 is nowhere near close… We can’t fight him head on, and he’s way out of our league!_ Sasuke thought to Sakura who nodded.

 _We need to out run him._ She thought back. _I’ll use up all the chakra I have right now to punch him out of the way and then we’ll run! I just need you to distract him for about 15 minutes so I can charge them up fully…_ Sasuke stiffly nodded. He didn’t want to go back out there, but this was their only chance to escape. “Look out, a snake!” Sakura suddenly yelled, pointing behind him. They both jumped to opposite sides of the tree, landing unsteadily on the bark.

 _I’m so glad I learned tree-walking…_ Sasuke thought as he ran alongside the tree, as the snake chased him. “Yah! Get lost!” he yelled, jumping up into the air and launching his remaining Kunai at the snake. The large reptile faltered and fell over. Sasuke and Sakura sighed in relief, thinking it was over when they snake split apart revealing the creep from before.

“For shame, letting your guards down like that! Stay on your toes, like good prey should. It makes the chase so much more rewarding… for the predator!” He smirked at them, dangling his long tongue from his lips. Jumping at the tree, he wrapped around it like a snake, slithering up it to the branch where Sasuke was situated when a shower of Shuriken and Kunai stopped his path.

“Sorry Sasuke, I can’t remember that stupid password!” Naruto stood on the tree right next to them, grinning widely.

“Sweet, Naruto! That was awesome!” Sakura yelled out excitedly, as she continued focusing on absorbing the chakra from her surroundings. _Maybe we can actually do this, Shannaro!_

 _Naruto, is that you?_ Sasuke asked, feeling relief course through him when Naruto replied.

 _It’s me! Who’s the weirdo?_ He squinted at the half-snake-man ninja.

“Naruto the hero, huh? You’re completely psyched to be saving the day, but now would be a good time to run for your life! You can’t fight him, he’s too strong. Just give up and leave!” Sasuke sneered outwardly, as he described what was going on inwardly. _We have a plan. Team 10‘s not getting here anytime soon, so Sakura’s going to punch him as hard as she can. Kakashi said a full powered punch of hers should theoretically be able to blow away even S-ranked nin. She just needs ten more minutes to fully charge, so we have to stall him until then!_

 _Alright! Don’t let him get near your neck!_ Naruto answered back inwardly but outwardly taunted, “I’m not afraid of this freak!”

“Heh heh, my compliments, on your stunning defeat of the giant snake, Naruto,” the creepy ninja smirked and swiveled his body in Naruto’s direction.

“You! You sent that snake after me! Who are you?” Naruto yelled back at the man in outrage. _How’d he know about that unless… Unless, he has some way to communicate with those snakes! They must be his summons!_

 _What? But there’s only one snake summoner who’d try to attack our village!_ Sakura thought back, shocked. After their C-rank mission, she had gone to the library to read some books about summons. She wanted to know more about them, ever since she met Pakkun. They all mentioned the three Sanin: The Great Toad Sage Jiraiya, The Slug Princess Tsunade, and… the Traitorous Snake Sage Orochimaru…

“You don’t recognize me? I’d think after all that time you spent with my beloved teacher, you’d be able to recognize his dear old student,” he said in a fake-sad voice, biting his index finger and thumb. “But then again… Maybe sensei didn’t mention me because I tried to kill him!” He smirked at them and rapidly went through a few hand seals, summoning an enormous snake! “I am the Great Snake Sage, Orochimaru!” he stated before twisting around to face Sasuke. “And I always get what I want, and Sasuke, I want you!”

Sasuke stiffened, activating his Sharingan in reflex to Orochimaru’s words. _What the hell? I don’t even know you, you sicko!_

Sakura gulped. _I was right, it is Orochimaru!_ Teams 8 and 10 who had been listening to Team 7’s battle stiffened. They’d all heard from their parents about how the infamous traitor had left Konoha after experimenting on children. _Guys, give up on coming here! There’s no way you’ll get here in time and you can’t even help us fight him!_

 _No way we can leave you alone!_ Kiba immediately replied.

 _Listen to her! Don’t come here._ Sasuke backed up Sakura, understanding her intentions. Another group of genin would only delay them. And it’s not like they’d make a difference in battling a Sage, even if he wasn’t going all out yet.

 _But—_ Ino protested, not wanting to leave them on their own.

 _But nothing!_ Sakura sternly retorted. _If you want to help us, then go and get some jounin, there’s nothing you can do here!_

 _She’s right. By the time we get there, it’ll be too late…_ Shino agreed.

 _Alright…_ Kiba relented, not liking it, but understanding that there was nothing they could do with how far away they were.

 _We’re right next to the tower, so we’ll report it to them. Stay safe!_ Hinata replied.

 _We’re still coming to where you are!_ Ino said stubbornly.

 _We might not be able to help you, but there’s no way we’re abandoning you!_ Shikamaru solemnly swore.

 _If nothing else, we can help you fight him until the jounin come!_ Choji added.

 _You guys…_ Sakura teared up slightly, feeling touched that the other genin were willing to risk their lives for them. She blinked back the tears and turned back to the standoff, watching Orochimaru slowly approach Sasuke. Now if only she could finish charging up her gauntlets… _Seven more minutes..._

“Ah! That one so young could have such mastery of the Sharingan~ Truly a worthy successor to the Uchiha Clan! You really are his brother! When I first saw those eyes, I just knew I had to have them!” Orochimaru licked his lips, continuing his monologue.

Sasuke paled, wanting to dart away as fast as he could from this creepy bastard with an apparent eye-kink and thing for his brother… _Nii-san, even if you turn out to be innocent, I’m still going to kill you for this!_ Sasuke thought as he saw the possessive gleam in the snake sage’s eyes.

“I can’t wait to see how the world will look with your eyes!” he exclaimed, as he jumped off his snake and stepped forwards in Sasuke’s direction. The genin tensed, waiting for his move. “Maybe I should even go after your sensei~ He has a transplanted eye, doesn’t he?” Orochimaru grinned at the three of them. “Maybe I won’t even kill you or your friends, so long as you come and join me, what do you say?” he smiled genially, as if he’d just offered to take them out to lunch and not betray their village.

 _Sasuke, don’t attack yet, I’m still able to fight. Remember, we need to stall!_ “Shut up! I’ll never betray Konoha!” Naruto snapped, jumping at Orochimaru who just stood on his snake and held out his hand, forming a mini-tornado that smacked into Naruto, making him cough out blood.

“Naruto!” Sakura screamed as Sasuke clenched his ninja wire. He only had one shot at this, so he couldn’t mess up. He hated that he couldn’t intervene yet to help the blonde.

“Excellent! But let’s not take any chances, eat the boy~” Orochimaru commanded his snake, who complied and opened its enormous jaw.

 _Grrrr!_ Kurama growled, sending his chakra to Naruto’s ribs, mending them as Naruto fell through the air. _Kit, when you’re about to reach the ground, kick that oversized maggot! I’ll even add in some of my chakra to hurt that oversized worm!_ Kurama vindictively commanded, not liking to see Naruto hurt.

 _Okay!_ Naruto agreed, diving forward and aiming his foot at the snake’s jaw. “Eat snot, sucker!” He yelled and slammed his heel onto the snake’s snout, smashing it to the ground.

 _How could the brat possibly do that?_ Orochimaru thought as he stared at Naruto in surprise. The blonde just glared at the snake sage with his red pupils. _Those eyes…_

 _Woah, what power!_ Sakura grinned, seeing him flatten the snake. _Alright! I’m almost there, just a few more minutes!_

 _Is that really Naruto?_ Sasuke thought in shock, wondering when his rival had gotten so strong.

“Ho Ho~ The fun’s just begun! If that didn’t work… then I’ll just take Sasuke instead!” Orochimaru grinned, his snake winding around, aiming at Sasuke now.

Sasuke looked at the snake in horror. There was no way his wire could cover that huge beast!

“Sasuke!” Sakura screamed, fearing he’d be eaten by the snake, when Naruto landed right in front of the snake, stopping it with his back.

“Hey, you okay?” Naruto grinned at Sasuke, puffing as he strained to hold back the snake. Sasuke just stared at the blood dripping from the blonde’s lips. How could he be asking _him_ if he was okay, when _he_ was the one who got hurt? This was his fault. Orochimaru was after him, not Sakura, not Naruto, but him! If he wasn’t on their team then they would have never gotten hurt by this maniac. Sasuke’s fingers shook. That missing-nin on the bridge was right, he wasn’t strong enough yet to protect his friends! The image of Naruto lying bloody and skewered on the bridge replayed in his mind. He was useless right now. Even Sakura was useful in their fight against Orochimaru with her monstrous punches, but he? He couldn’t do a thing!

“Yaaaaaaah!” Naruto screamed as a long tongue wrapped around his waist and lifted him up into the air, dangling him in front of Orochimaru, before Sasuke could even try to pull the blonde back. “Heyyyy! Get off of me!!!” Naruto flailed in his grip.

 _Naruto!_ Kurama panicked, and sent as much of his demonic chakra as he could into the blonde without frying his chakra network. Naruto thrashed and squirmed, but was unable to escape the snake sage’s slimy appendage.

Orochimaru caught the blonde genin’s chin between his two fingers, forcing Naruto to look him in the eye. Using his thumb, he caressed the blonde’s whiskered cheeks and whispered, “Heh heh, the brat of the nine-tails is still alive and kicking…” He smirked at Naruto with his borrowed face. “How fascinating! To see that a bit of the nine-tailed fox trapped within comes through when you become emotional. What an amazing development!” He marveled as slipping his arm into the blonde’s waistband, forcing his orange shirt up to reveal Naruto’s seal. Orochimaru stroked the seal and said, “There’s the proof. The tattoo that seals the monster within you, how I’d like to examine it in depth…” He removed his hand off the blonde’s stomach and channeled chakra to the tips of his claw-shaped hand.

 _Drat! I think he’s going to seal me away!_ Kurama yelled to Naruto.

 _That’s okay! I can unseal it!_ Naruto reassured, glaring at the snake sage.

 _Hang in there, Naruto!_ Sakura thought as she saw Sasuke sneak up behind the snake sage, about to attack. The rest of the genin and Kakashi held their breath, listening intently to see if Naruto was okay.

“It’s too bad that you’re more trouble than you’re worth today…” Orochimaru finally said, digging his hand into Naruto’s stomach, causing the blonde to cry out in pain and faint.

“Naruto!” Sakura screamed as the snake sage tossed Naruto’s prone body to the side. She quickly launched a Kunai at Naruto’s jumpsuit, pinning him to the tree. Sighing in relief that he wasn’t falling anymore, Sakura checked her gauntlets again. _I still need another minute and a half._ Biting her lip, she surveyed the situation again and saw Orochimaru about to turn and see Sasuke. “Sasuke! Naruto needs your help! He might be clumsy and is sometimes a nuisance, but at least he has guts! He’s no coward! Right?” she yelled, distracting Orochimaru and giving Sasuke the time he needed to throw the last of his Shuriken at the snake sage.

Orochimaru felt something coming at him and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the two Shuriken on either side of him. _Not bad! The way he anticipates my ever move and the accuracy of the targeting… He sees me!_ He ducked his head, getting trapped by a third Shuriken that he didn’t see. _Wire?_ He thought, noticing the ninja wires attached to the Shuriken. _I see, he flawlessly perceived my escape route and struck along a path I didn’t see myself…_ “Heh, such a shame it won’t work…” he muttered, impressed that a genin had outmaneuvered him even if he was just playing around with them.

“Hah!” Sasuke breathed in and rapidly went through the hand signs Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, Tiger, releasing a flame that traveled along the wire, melting off Orochimaru’s face. He breathed heavily in relief, before tensing again as he saw the Snake Sage didn’t even falter.

“…It’s marvelous fun,” Orochimaru began, once the fire died down, peeling off his face. “Having you show me all your tricks!” he smirked and paralyzed Sasuke and Sakura again with his magnified killing intent.

 _We can’t move!_ Sakura yelled, trying to throw off the killing intent. Sasuke snarled, trying to get his legs free, but was stuck.

Orochimaru slithered to them slowly as he spoke, “If you’d ever like a rematch, pass this exam as quickly as you can! I’ll see you again if you manage to defeat the three Oto-nin from Sound who only answer to me!”

“Wh-what are you babbling on about!? We never want to see your face again!” Sakura yelled out, stalling for some more time. _30 seconds…_

“Perhaps not…” Orochimaru mused, putting his fingers together to form a hand sign. “But wishing won’t chase me away!” he yelled as his head detached from his body and stretched out towards them, chomping down on Sasuke’s neck.

 _He did it! He really bit Sasuke’s neck!_ Sakura thought hysterically as she fought against the killing intent.

Orochimaru let go and whispered loud enough for both genin to hear him, “I look forward to seeing you again, Sasuke… In your quest for power!” he finished as Sasuke collapsed, convulsing on the ground as a seal formed on his neck.

Sakura stiffened and found her body finally free from the paralysis and yelled, “What did you do to Sasuke?!”

Orochimaru grinned maliciously at the pink-haired genin and said, “Oh, just a little something to remember me by…”

Sakura glared at him, clenching her fists and sending all her remaining chakra into them. “You bastard!” she screamed and punched him as hard as she physically could.

Orochimaru buried into the ground about to shunshin away when he felt a large chakra signal gather right next to him. He looked up, only to see a fist descend upon him, blowing him away. “Oof,” he grunted as he was blown away to the other side of the forest, crashing through the trees. He spat out some blood and winced as he gently fingered his tender wound. _That girl… She hits as hard as Tsunade!_ He thought in wonder. _Hmm, how interesting~!_ He chuckled, his laughter echoing in the empty clearing.

* * *

“Urghh,” Sakura groaned, dropping to the ground. Sasuke twitched in pain next to her and Naruto was still pinned to the tree, dangling limply. She struggled to push herself up into a standing position. _Need to move… Can’t faint now…_ She braced herself against the tree and took out a chakra pill, popping it into her mouth. She instantly felt better as she felt the chakra surge through her and fill up her reserves. _Shelter, I need shelter…_ She thought and dragged Sasuke into the roots of the tree next to them. Pulling Naruto down, she set him beside Sasuke and saw sweat building up on Sasuke’s forehead. _Think, Sakura, think! What did the medic guide say to do when someone had a fever?_ She wracked her brain and remembered what she read. _Water, I need to keep him hydrated!_ She dug around in her pouch and took out three washcloths. She dipped them into her water supply and put the tips of the cloths inside Naruto’s and Sasuke’s mouths, using the last one to wipe off the sweat beading Sasuke’s forehead. _Ok, Naruto seems to just be unconscious, but Sasuke… He’s burning up..._

 _Hey! How are you guys?_ Kiba’s voice came into her head. _We saw Team 10’s sensei and told him about Orochimaru. He said he’d let the Hokage know._

Sakura almost jumped up in surprise. She’d forgotten about the communication seals. _We’re not so good. The snake creep is gone for now, but he did something to Naruto and Sasuke, and now they’re both unconscious. I think Sasuke even has a fever…_

 _Hang in there, Sakura. We’re almost there. We just need to get past this other team and then we’ll be right over!_ Ino piped up. Sakura sat down in relief. Despite eating the soldier pill, she still had almost no chakra leftover with the genjutsu she put up to hide them from the forest animals and any ninja after their scrolls. There was no way she could protect her teammates if someone attacked…

* * *

Right After the Second Exam Started: In the Jounin Lounge

Kakashi grinned behind his mask as he listened to his genin trick the foolish ninja who tried to dupe them by impersonating Naruto. He was proud of his team. They’d easily overcome the mind tricks Ibiki played in the first exam and they’d also already made an alliance in the second exam. Ibiki had even dropped by in the lounge to ask how Team 7 had cheated. Kakashi just eye-smiled at him and said that it was a secret, frustrating the stern man who just reminded him to not let Danzo find out about them. As if he’d let that man anywhere near his genin. That old fossil already had his eyes on Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi didn’t need Danzo finding some other reasons to “help train” his team… Kakashi shifted on his seat, trying to find a more comfortable position to sit in. His orange book was open in front of him, causing the other jounin in the room to think his reactions were to the book.

Asuma watched Kakashi stiffen up and shook his head. _He must be at the part where Mako lost his legs in the landslide and Mira and Natsu were worried that he won’t ever be able to perform again…_ He thought in commiseration. _Don’t worry, Kakashi, Tamiko won’t let him be legless for long! She’ll_ _use her priestess powers to grow them back!_

Kakashi frowned as he heard them encounter another imposter with a long tongue. This new one way deadlier than the last.

He overheard Sakura think through the link in disbelief, _What the hell? He just looked at us and made Sasuke throw up!_

 _I saw it—I mean us—I mean he just killed us!_ Sasuke stammered. There was no way this ninja was a genin, especially if he caused Sasuke to throw up with a single look. The raven-haired genin had at least mid-Chunin level reserves. Only a high-jounin or mid-ANBU level ninja could force him to do that!

 _Stay away from him! Whoever this is, they’re not a genin!_ Kakashi yelled at them, tensing as he felt his genin’s fear through the link. _I’m going to go ask the Hokage what’s going on, stay alive, I’ll be there soon!_ He promised and shunshined out of the room. The rest of the jounin-sensei just stared at the empty spot Kakashi had been in, in confusion, wondering why he’d disappeared.

* * *

Kakashi entered the Hokage’s office through the window and saw Shikaku and Inoichi sitting next to Hiruzen. “Kakashi, why are you here? I thought I already told you that Kabuto was a non-concern?” Hiruzen asked, frowning.

“Hokage-sama, I have reason to believe that there is a jounin to ANBU level ninja masquerading as one of the genin in the exam,” Kakashi reported, clenching his fists tightly as he heard the other genin teams say they were too far away to help Team 7.

“Kakashi, I know that this is your first team and that you’re worried about them, but that’s no reason to get so worked up about this Exam!” the Hokage chided, as the other two jounin by his side looked at Kakashi in interest. They had never seen the other man so worried about anyone before. It looked like the copy-nin finally had someone he cared about again.

“You don’t understand!” Kakashi ran his fingers through his white hair in frustration, before paling as he heard Naruto was swallowed by a snake. “He has snake summons! It’s Orochimaru! He must be after Naruto’s body or Sasuke’s eyes!” Kakashi panicked and started pacing the room in agitation. This caught the others’ attentions.

“What? How did he even get here? There’s no way he came to the village…” Inoichi began but was cut off by his walkie-talkie going off.

“Hokage-sama, we found three genin with their faces ripped off. This technique is reminiscent to the one Orochimaru uses to disguise himself. Anko is checking out the forest with her team as we speak!” a jounin reported.

 _Damnit! This must be what Danzo was planning for!_ Shikaku cursed as Kakashi stopped pacing as he heard Naruto had escaped the giant snake.

Hiruzen focused the Telescope Technique on his crystal ball and used his old student’s chakra pattern to track him down. Unfortunately, there was a barrier preventing him from learning their location, but he could still focus the ball on the encounter. Sure enough, it showed Orochimaru taunting Team 7. They tuned in just in time to hear the long-haired ninja say, “You don’t recognize me? I’d think after you spent all that time with my beloved teacher, you’d be able to recognize his dear old student.” Hiruzen frowned as he saw the student he doted on most sneer at his pseudo-grandson. “But then again… Maybe sensei didn’t mention me because I tried to kill him!” _Where did I go wrong with him?_ Hiruzen thought sorrowfully as he watched Orochimaru summon an enormous snake. “I am the Great Snake Sage, Orochimaru! And I always get what I want, and Sasuke, I want you!”

“I knew it! He’s after Sasuke’s eyes,” Kakashi mumbled, glaring at the screen. Sage or not, there was no way he was letting someone hurt his genin! He shifted, about to shunshin out of there when a shadow hooked onto his and trapped him.

Shikaku took the walkie-talkie and commanded, “Tell Anko’s team that Orochimaru is in the Forest of Death attacking Team 7. Send all available jounin to find them and help!” Then he turned to Kakashi and said, “Sit down, there’s no way you can get there in time. All you can do is wait for the search groups to report where he is. Until then, all we can do is wait…” Kakashi huffed but sat down in the chair, his eyes still glued to the screen. His muscles were all drawn taut as he listened to Sakura tell Team 8 to signal for backup.

“Team 8 is coming to the tower, have someone ask the Aburame where my Team is located,” Kakashi directed, remembering how Shino had “bugged” Team 7 before.

“Good idea,” Hiruzen nodded and sent a monkey summons to Asuma telling him to take over for Kurenai when Team 8 unsealed their scrolls at the Tower. They turned back to the screen listening to Orochimaru praise the Sharingan.

Kakashi absently touched his own eye when the Snake Sage said, “Maybe I should even go after your sensei~ He has a transplanted eye, doesn’t he? Maybe I won’t even kill you or your friends, so long as you come and join me, what do you say?”

Inoichi drew in a breath. “He’s trying to make them betray the village,” he said grimly, as the others stared at the screen. They all panicked when they saw Naruto launch himself at Orochimaru, only to be smacked into the sky and spit out blood. The next moment shocked all of them as they watched the blonde somehow gain enough power to smash the snake summon into the ground.  

“How did he do that?” Inoichi asked in disbelief, his jaw dropped open.

“The Kyuubi, he must be drawing on its powers unconsciously,” Shikaku answered with wide eyes.

“…” Hiruzen remained silent. Only he knew who “Kurama Uzumaki” really was. The blonde genin had told him in secret about the Kyuubi and how it had become part of his family. He was wary at first, thinking that the fox was trying to trick Naruto, but his misgivings were dissolved when he actually entered Naruto’s mindscape and saw how the blonde interacted with the nine-tailed fox. Finding out the truth about October 10th, had been a real shock, but he didn’t doubt the Kyuubi’s words. He might not like the demon, but he had to admit that it felt reassuring to have something that powerful always protecting the blonde… There was no way he was telling this to anyone. He’d already made that mistake once with the last secret about the Kyuubi. If he let this one out, who knows what the villagers, or worse, Danzo would do? No, it was better making this an S-ranked secret that only Naruto was allowed to share. That way, no one would be able to take advantage of him. The blonde would only tell people he absolutely trusted, and with the Kyuubi’s negative-emotions sensing ability, there was no way he’d accidentally tell an untrustworthy person.

Kakashi gripped the table hard, making indentations in it, as he saw Naruto stop the gigantic snake summons from eating Sasuke. He nearly cracked the table when Orochimaru picked up Naruto with his slimy tongue and dangled him in the air. _How dare that bastard feel up Naruto!_ Kakashi fumed, pulverizing the table when he saw Orochimaru use his claws to hurt Naruto.

Shikaku ignored the broken table and asked, “What did he just do? Will there be any complications with the seal?” Kakashi glared at Shikaku for worrying about the seal instead of Naruto.

Hiruzen rubbed his chin and answered, “He appears to have used the Five-Pronged Seal. It should just cut off the Kyuubi’s chakra from Naruto’s so there won’t be any problems with his seal. He should be able to remove it when he wakes up…” Shikaku nodded and turned his attention back to the crystal ball. Kakashi gritted his teeth as he saw Sakura attempt to stall for more time. _I should be there, helping them. This never should have happened…_ He winced when Orochimaru latched onto Sasuke’s neck and gave him the same seal Anko had. “That seal…” Hiruzen gulped. They still couldn’t remove Anko’s seal, and now young Sasuke had one too…

Kakashi grinned in schadenfreude as he saw Sakura punch Orochimaru far away from Team 7. “Yes! Take that you Snake Bastard!” he shouted, causing the others in the room to sweat-drop at the copy-nin’s exuberance.

“Change of plans. Orochimaru is no longer with Team 7. Continue searching in the forest for him. If you see Team 7… take them to the tower and offer them medical assistance,” Shikaku hesitated but added the last part when he remembered what Sakura just did. _They’re ready to become Chunin if they were able to go against Orochimaru, an S-ranked nin, for half an hour and still be able to drive him away. They deserve to pass the Chunin Exams even if the proctors help them to the tower…_

Hiruzen nodded. In his mind, Team 7 were already Chunin after their A-ranked mission to Wave. The exams were just a way to make it official. He wouldn’t stop them from continuing just because they were escorted to the Tower. Their fight today showed that they were more than capable of becoming Chunin. He looked up as Asuma entered the room. “Team 8 has arrived in the tower. Shino told me where Team 7 was, but when I reported it to the proctors they said no jounin were available nearby. All of their Teams are at the edges of the Forest searching for Orochimaru…” Asuma reported back to his father.

Hiruzen sighed and said, “Okay. Kakashi, go with Asuma back to the waiting room.”

“But Hokage-sama—” Kakashi began, wanting to go to his Team right now, but was interrupted.

“I know you want to go see your Team, but you can’t enter the Forest of Death. We can’t tip off Orochimaru that we know he’s here yet,” Shikaku explained. Kakashi frowned but relented.

“Go with Asuma to the waiting room. You can join Team 7 after they unseal their scrolls in the Tower. They should be there soon,” Hiruzen commanded. Kakashi nodded and left the room with Asuma. Hiruzen rubbed his face and sunk down, back into his seat. This was going to be a long month…

* * *

Team Gai was setting up camp at a clearing with a cave. Tenten was gathering wood to start a campfire while Neji was setting up the tents and keeping an eye out for intruders. Lee was out “training.” They’d already gotten their scrolls, so they just had to make their way to the Tower. Neji put down his tools and sighed, “Come out of hiding… unless you’re a coward.”

 _How’d he spot us when we hid so fast?_ Ino wondered as she looked at her teammates.

 _Stupid pain in the neck, finding us like that… We don’t have time for this, we need to hurry!_ Shikamaru thought back in annoyance.

 _Since my masterful Plan A—hide until anyone who might hurt us is gone—has failed, time for Plan B!_ Ino thought as Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at her.

 _It’s not going to work…_ Shikamaru sighed but followed her lead. He’d do anything to leave this place quickly.

“Oh! What an honor! Lord Hyuuga Neji, last year’s Rookie of the Year! Fancy meeting you here!” Ino flattered.

Shikamaru stood up and fawned over him too, “Wow! Can I have an autograph?”

“Oh, it’s you three…” Neji recognized them from previous Clan social events in Konoha.

 _Get a load of this!_ Ino thought as she undid her ponytail and flipped her hair. “I can’t tell you how long… I’ve dreamt of meeting you!” she winked at him and blew him a kiss.

Neji immediately turned around and walked in the opposite direction. “Get lost!” he coldly said, ignoring her antics.

 _Why? Why didn’t he find me sexy? What’s wrong with him?!_ Ino raged, shaking a fist at him. _It makes me so mad!_

 _I tried to tell you he wouldn’t go for it…_ Shikamaru thought back tiredly.

“Hey, does that fist your shaking in my direction mean you want to fight me?” Neji asked without turning around.

“O-Of course not,” Ino stammered, rubbing the back of her head. _H-How could he know that? Unless… He has eyes in the back of his head!_

 _He does, you idiot! He’s a Hyuuga, remember?_ Shikamaru retorted, while Choji just stifled his laughter.

 _Oh, yeah… I forgot…_ Ino said sheepishly.

“Then get lost! I wouldn’t demean myself by taking a scroll from losers like you. It would make me a laughingstock!” Neji sneered at them. _Humph, they’re like cockroaches…_

“O-Okay!” Ino agreed as the rest of Team 10 sprinted away. _As if we have time or energy to fight you!_ Ino thought, biting her lips in anger.

 _It’s better this way._ Shikamaru consoled. _We don’t have to waste our time on a meaningless fight…_

 _En!_ Choji agreed as they continued in the direction Shino had told them to take.

* * *

Meanwhile, a genin large eye-brows and a green jumpsuit was wandering the Forest of Death in a daze. He kept recalling the genin group that had tricked the Chunin guards and got into the exam by singing a song. He recognized the dark-haired one as Sasuke Uchiha, this year’s Rookie of the Year. Lee was looking forward fighting Sasuke as he was Gai-sensei’s eternal-rival’s student! He was also looking forward to finding out if the dead last blonde was also a Master of Hard Work just like him. And the third member of their team… He blushed. The pink haired girl, Sakura, was really really pretty. He hopped onto the next tree and saw some leaves fall. _Yosh! If I can catch all 20 of these leaves before they can hit the ground, then Sakura will fall in love with me! But, if I miss even one… then my love for her will never be requited and she’ll probably make fun of my hair!_ He fired up and shot out of the tree catching 19 leaves in one swift swoop. _One more left!_ Jumping at the last leaf, he was about to catch it, when a squirrel jumped out of the bushes. _It’s…!_ He caught the squirrel quickly detaching the paper bomb on its back, saving its life. “Just in the nick of time! A letter bomb on a very short timer… Who would do something so cruel?” Lee frowned and patted the squirrel. _I guess I’ll find out soon…_ He thought and ran towards the noises he heard in the distance.

* * *

“Shit!” Sakura spat out some blood and dodged another kick to her head. This was bad! She didn’t have any chakra left over and could only use her normal Taijutsu and remaining Kunai and Shuriken. _Hurry up Ino! I’m fighting a bunch of whack-jobs!_ She swiped at the bandaged boy and lunged to the side away from the girl’s attack, only to be hit by the black-haired one’s sound waves. “Huff, huff,” the pink haired girl breathed heavily and tried pushing herself up off the ground, only to almost fall over again. Her fall was stopped by a bushy-browed bowl-haircut green-jumpsuit wearing man. “You are…?” She asked in confusion.

He gently lowered her to the ground and said, “It is I, Konoha’s Second Beautiful Green Beast, Rock Lee!” He stood in front of Sakura and said, “And I’m here to protect you with my life!”

Sakura blinked not knowing how to take in this new development. “Thanks,” she nodded slowly, any help was good right now. She could barely move. This would help stall for enough time for Team 10 to get here. _Where are you guys?_

 _We’re almost there, just give us another five minutes…_ Ino answered back.

Lee positioned himself in Front Lotus, trying to attack the black-haired one. The other ninja just smirked and shot a sound wave at Lee, damaging his ears. Lee staggered to the side, but still remained in front of Sakura, protecting her.

“Zaku, stop playing around! Finish him off. We don’t have time for this, we’re here for the boy!” the bandaged boy commanded.

The black-haired boy scowled but agreed, nonetheless. “Got it, Dosu!” he replied and sent out another sound wave at the green-jumpsuit wearing boy. He tried dodging it, but was unable to, his balance being off from the ear damage the sound waves caused. He shut his eyes, waiting for the impact.

Sakura pushed herself up. She had eaten another soldier pill and was ready to fight! She shoved Lee out of the way and snapped three Kunai at Zaku, pinning him to the tree.

“Look at that! Pinkie actually has some fight left in her!” the girl remarked, clapping her hands together.

“Kin…” Dosu growled, warningly.

“Got it, got it! I won’t take too long, promise!” Kin held up her hands. Dosu nodded, allowing her permission to go after Sakura. “Come here, you little piglet!” Kin yelled as she rushed Sakura. The pink haired genin kicked Kin to the side and threw a Shuriken at her, forcing Kin away from where Lee was curled up on the floor. Kin clicked her tongue and ran to Sakura’s other side. Sakura tensed up preparing to defend herself when Zaku, who had gotten free from before, sent a sound wave at her, knocking her to the ground.

“Urghh!” Sakura groaned from the ground. She’d forgotten to take into account the other member of the team when she was fighting. Kin grinned at pulled Sakura up by her hair.

“Look at you now! All helpless and alone, just like a pig primed for slaughter…” she smirked at the pink haired genin. Sakura tried to move, but could barely remain conscious from the wounds she had received. _I can’t move… I’m just a burden to them, someone they have to protect! I’m always in the way, never helping… Damnit! I thought this time would be different, this time, I need to help protect the people I care about!_ She blinked rapidly, trying to will herself awake to help her teammates. _They’re counting on me, I can’t give up now!_ Her eyes flashed with resolve as she recalled that talk she had with her inner self after that trip to Whirlpool.

* * *

_Flashback to Inner & Sakura_

_Sakura woke up barefoot to a lush meadow full of stone sculptures. “How did I get here?” she asked herself aloud._

_“We’re in your mind, Dip-stick!” a voice yelled out._

_Sakura jumped, not expecting anyone to actually answer her. “In my mind?” she repeated. She turned towards the voice and saw a second her!_

_Clone-Sakura rolled her eyes. “Yes, we’re in your mind, or our mind, I guess… It doesn’t really matter; what matters is that you have to stop what you’re doing!”_

_“Stop what I’m doing?” Sakura blanched._

_Her clone nodded. “See, that! We were the smartest Kunoichi in school! How are you so stupid?”_

_“Stupid? Take that back, I’m not stupid!” Sakura yelled back, a tick-mark forming on her forehead. The wind picked up in the meadow, reacting to her temper._

_“Then why are we on a diet? You KNOW that ninjas need more energy to train!” Clone-Sakura lifted her eyebrow at her, provoking the pink-haired kunoichi._

_“Because- Because of Sasuke-kun!” Sakura stammered. Surely, her clone knew that she needed to be attractive to date him?_

_“See, that’s why you’re an Idiot!” Clone-Sakura complained. Sakura was about to blow up again when her clone interrupted her. “Do you even remember why we wanted to be a strong ninja?” Sakura silently shook her head no, wanting to see where her clone was going with this. “We wanted to become a strong ninja to be Ino’s equal. She reached out to us when we were all alone, and how do you repay her? By ditching her when you found out that she also had a crush on Sasuke!” Sakura ducked her head down in shame. She really had no excuse for what she did. “And if that wasn’t bad enough, you declared yourself her rival, but you never bothered to take any of the physical aspects of ninja training seriously! Even Naruto the dead-last could beat you!”_

_“Hey! Don’t speak about Naruto that way!” Sakura snapped, the wind roaring with her fury again. She could handle the insults towards herself, but Naruto… He showed her a way to fight back, a way to help Sasuke and Kakashi battle and not be left behind. There was no way she was allowing anyone to mock him in front of her!_

_“Why not?” the clone asked sarcastically. “You used to punch Naruto whenever you were annoyed at him for telling you that he loved you.”_

_“Th-That wasn’t because of…” Sakura stammered as clouds darkened the skies._

_“How would you have felt if Sasuke beat you up every time you confessed to him instead of just ignoring you?” her clone sneered at her as it began to rain, wind whipping around everywhere._

_“I…” Sakura opened her mouth and closed it. What could she say in defense of her actions? She didn’t want to admit it, but her clone was right. “I would feel horrible,” she finally said in a solemn voice, mentally kicking herself for how she had treated Naruto. “Kami, I feel terrible. I’m such a bad person,” she sobbed realizing the contempt she’d shown the sunny blonde for giving her his heart._

_“Good, you’ve finally realized the truth.” The rain stopped and the sky cleared up once more to show the glistening sun. Sakura stopped crying and looked up to see her clone smiling at her gently. “Will you take your training more seriously now? To catch up to your teammates and to stand by their side instead of hiding behind them like a coward?” she asked._

_“Yes, I will,” Sakura promised with conviction. She was going to train hard from now on, no matter how she looks. She’d do it, to stand by her team and not be a burden anymore. Her clone smiled, her image wavering slightly. “What’s happening? Why are you fading?” Sakura asked in panic as her clone started disappearing._

_“I was made when you started hiding how you truly felt to fit in, but now that you’ve accepted everything you used to blind yourself too, I am no longer needed,” she explained, turning transparent with a faint outline._

_“But, wait! What if I don’t want you to go! What if I mess up again? I don’t want to go back to being how I was before…” Sakura said the last part in a quieter voice._

_“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be here, guiding you in the right direction. I am a part of you after all,” she kissed Sakura’s forehead and vanished into thin air. Sakura blushed lightly and rubbed the spot her clone kissed before she felt a tug. She woke up in a hospital bed with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen staring right at her in joy._

* * *

_I’d always thought of myself as a full-fledged ninja, proud to be their equal as I trailed behind my teammates. Crushing on Sasuke and scolding Naruto, watching them safely from the background, while they both would risk anything to protect me. You’re my teachers and have shown me what I want to be. So, I’ll follow in your footsteps to be like all of you! Now it’s your turn to watch my back._ Sakura forced herself to grab a Kunai and swiped it across her hair, chopping it off.

Kin staggered back, while the rest of the ninja clearing looked at Sakura in shock. She clenched her Kunai and shouted out, “There’s no way you’re getting through me! I’ll fight you all to protect my friends!”

Dosu laughed. As if this slip of a girl could stop him from carrying out Orochimaru-sama’s commands! “Zaku, Kin, take care of her!” They nodded and attacked her in unison.

Sakura dodged the sound waves Zaku sent at her and broke out of the illusion Kin cast. She channeled the last dregs of her chakra and punched both of them, sending them flying into a tree. She turned around and was about to punch Dosu too when she was struck by senbon from behind. She dropped to the floor again, unable to move. _Sasuke, Naruto… Even Lee, I’m sorry…_ Sakura shut her eyes waiting for Dosu to deal the final blow.

“Don’t give up, Forehead. No one’s allowed to beat you but me! You’re _my_ _rival_ after all!”

Sakura opened her eyes and saw Ino standing in front of her, protecting her from the others’ attacks. Her strong back overlapped with the one that protected her from the playground bullies back at the Academy. “Ino…”

“You’ve done enough. Leave the rest to me,” Ino said to Sakura, holding her hand out to her. And just like before, when she was little, she saw a blonde girl reaching her hand out to her, shielding her from the outside world… _You always have my back, Ino…_ Sakura took her hand and stood up. Ino led her over to where Shikamaru was checking on Naruto and Sasuke. “Sit here and watch over your teammates. We’ll beat them up for you!” she promised.

Sakura nodded, as Shikamaru got up and faced the other three ninja with Ino and Choji flanking him. She knew she could count on them to fight. She leaned her back against the tree and watched the battle commence.

* * *

 _How are they?_ Ino asked mentally as she stood protectively in front of Team 7.

 _They’re okay. Both are unconscious and Sasuke seems to have a slight fever, but otherwise, they’re fine._ Shikamaru replied, straining as he continued holding on to Dosu’s shadow.

 _That’s good._ Choji sighed in relief. The larger boy had been worried for Team 7 ever since he heard they were in trouble. He’d barely eaten on their way here and was now starving. His stomach growled as he struck up his fighting pose.

The trio assumed the Boar-Deer-Butterfly formation their Clans were known for and yelled out simultaneously, “Baika no Jutsu!” “Kagemane no Jutsu!” “Shintenshin no Jutsu!” Ino shoved her way into the girl’s mind while Shikamaru trapped the other genin as well. He let go of the black-haired genin as Choji used his Nikudan Sensha to slam him into the ground, knocking him out. The bandaged leader could only stand there and watch as his teammates got pummeled. Choji continued rolling after barreling over Zaku and launched himself into the air, flattening Dosu. Ino forced Kin to takeout her poisoned senbon and to stab herself with them before leaving her body.

Team 10 quickly tied up the other team and regrouped in front of Sakura, panting heavily from the fight they’d just been in.

“Yes! We beat them!” Ino exclaimed and sat down next to Sakura, propping her back up against the tree. She waved around the Earth scroll they snatched from the tied-up team and said, “Lucky~ We got the scroll we needed!”

“We better get out of here before they wake up…” Shikamaru didn’t sit down and assessed the current situation. “Who’s this?” he asked, gesturing to Lee.

“This is Rock Lee. He helped save me from them,” Sakura explained, flexing her stiff muscles. The recoil of eating two soldier pills in a short amount of time was really taking its toll on her. Even though she weakened their effects, her “mud balls” still used up a lot of her stamina. Right now, she could only eat one without feeling any side effects. Two pills were still too much for her body to handle without becoming unconscious after they wore off… She didn’t know how much longer she could stay awake…

“Oh yeah,” Ino smacked her fist on her hand. “Isn’t he part of Neji’s team? We saw them in the clearing over there!” She pointed in the direction they’d come in, before looking back at the green-jumpsuit clad genin. “What do we do with him?” she asked, scrunching up her eyebrows.

“Let me take him from here!” A girl with two buns on either side of her head dropped down in front of them. Team 10 watched her warily, waiting to see what she would do. She forced Lee into a standing position and then violently shook him yelling, “Lee! Are you alright? Pull yourself together!!!”

The other genin could only sweat-drop as Lee mumbled, “Wha-?” He blinked his eyes at Tenten, who finally let go of him, and asked, “Huh? Tenten? When did you get here?”

“We came here to rescue you!” she frowned at her wayward teammate, placing her hands on her hips.

“Ugh…” Lee groaned and looked around the clearing. “Where did the ninja from Sound go?” he asked in confusion.

“Team 10 beat them off…” Tenten answered as they both turned and looked at the other genin.

“Oh…” Lee pouted. He wanted a rematch after failing so miserably in the last fight. _I need to run a hundred laps around Konoha as punishment… On my hands!_ He added, thinking the penalty wasn’t hard enough.

Tenten, sensing her teammate’s thoughts going into a strange direction, scolded him, “What were you thinking, going off half-cocked like that alone?! Look at you! You’re a mess!”

“S-Sakura needed me! Saving her was my sacred duty… as a man!” Lee protested,

Tenten narrowed her eyes at him, and looked back at the trio Team 10 defeated. _Oh, for crying out loud! If Lee had faced those guys by himself, with no distractions, he could’ve taken them! If those three: the glutton, loud-mouth, and slacker could’ve defeated them, then there’s no way Lee could’ve failed unless Pinky got in his way…_ She incorrectly assumed. “You’re an idiot. You know that, right?” she asked in exasperation.

“Your words are so sharp! If I try to answer back, I’ll cut myself!” Lee slumped down in defeat to the rest of the genin’s amusement.

Sakura pushed herself off the trunk and shakily walked towards the green-clad genin. “Lee… Thank you!” she smiled, staving off her tiredness. “Thanks to your help, I’ve made some kind of breakthrough. My skills have been taken to a whole new level!”

 _Sakura!_ Lee sniffled as his eyes filled up with tears. “…I am not worthy!” he blurted out, wiping away his tears. “They beat me senseless and _you_ saved _me_!” _Next time, I’ll beat them!_ He looked at Sakura with a burning gaze, “Sakura… The Fighting Lotus of Konoha village will grow and flower again! Before we meet again, I’ll become a stronger man! I swear it!” _And next time, I’ll definitely be able to protect you! Yosh! I’ll do 500 sit ups after the exams!_ Lee fired up again.

Sakura blinked at those last words which were so similar to that of her blonde teammate’s. “Yeah,” she agreed and smiled nostalgically. They both would get stronger, and next time… Next time, Sakura would be able to protect her teammates too! She also fired up.

Seeing both of their passionate burning gazes, Team 10 and Tenten sweat-dropped. _Those two… They’re on the same wave-length, aren’t they...?_ They thought.

“Alright you two, we need to get going,” Tenten interrupted them, already used to strange displays like this from her sensei and teammate. “See you later!” Tenten called out as she dragged Lee away with her to where Neji was standing on a cliff.

 _Hmm… Seems like they have some fight in them after all…_ He thought, looking at Team 10 standing next to the downed foes. He was too late to actually watch the fight, but he was surprised those weaklings actually managed to beat another team. He looked away as Tenten and Lee joined him and coldly said, “Let’s go.” They nodded and left the clearing, leaving Teams 7 and 10 alone.

“Okay, now that that’s over, let’s go over our plans…” Shikamaru coughed, gaining their attention. “The way I see it, we should find a shelter for tonight and head to the tower tomorrow morning. Hopefully, Naruto and Sasuke will both be awake then,” he said, glancing at the two unconscious genin. “For now, let’s go in that direction. We saw a cave over there and it’s near the tower.”

Sakura nodded and helped Ino prop up Naruto and Sasuke against the tree. “Who’s going to carry them?” Sakura asked, gesturing at her teammates.

“Troublesome…” Shikamaru muttered, rubbing his forehead. “Choji, do you think you can carry both of them?” he asked, looking at the larger boy.

“I can try…” Choji nodded and slung the two genin over his shoulders. He grunted and struggled to carry them both forward.

“This isn’t going to work…” Shikamaru stated.

“He could use chakra to make them less heavy,” Sakura suggested.

“Nah, I don’t have enough chakra to do that,” Choji said in dismay.

“I could takeover Sasuke and force him to walk,” Ino added, leering slightly at the thought of being inside Sasuke’s body.

Shikamaru shivered seeing her expression and said, “Yeah, let’s not do that… Who knows how those seals are affecting them… It’s better not to disturb them. For now, I’ll use my shadows to walk Sasuke and Choji will carry Naruto as he’s lighter. After that, we’ll take turns carrying them until we get there.” The genin nodded and followed Shikamaru into the forest.

Choji nodded and picked up the blonde, frowning as he felt how light he was. _He’s not getting enough to eat._ He thought, remembering what Naruto said about having to scavenge in the forest for food. _After the exams, I’m going to help him stock up his fridge. No one deserves to go hungry!_ He grimaced at the thought of not eating for a day as his stomach growled.

Unknown to Choji, he’d accidentally projected his thoughts about Naruto through the link. The other genin (and one jounin-sensei) did not take this reminder of the blonde’s harsh life well.

Shikamaru almost walked Sasuke into a tree when he overheard Choji’s remarks. He knew that the blonde was shorter than usual, and he’d always thought it was genetics, but… Could it be possible that it was due to undernourishment? He wondered, eyeing Naruto’s slight frame.

Team 8 did not have a huge reaction, as they’d already discussed the blonde’s eating habits before. Ever since Naruto mentioned not having enough money for food, Hinata began experimenting in the kitchen, trying to make food for him. Both Kiba and Shino knew of her crush on him and helped test out her food. Everything she made was delicious! Naruto would definitely devour it if it was placed in front of him. Now, if only the pale-eyed girl wasn’t too shy to deliver the food boxes to the blonde…

Sakura felt horrified that Naruto had to search in the woods for food. _How did I not know this? I’m his teammate, I should’ve noticed!_ She grimaced as she remembered how she threw the food he’d made specially for them onto the ground. _No wonder they threatened me and Sasuke…_ She thought remembering their stay in the hospital.

Kakashi, on the other hand, scowled under his mask. Although he knew that with the increased mission pay, Naruto was able to feed himself now, the thought of his blonde wandering the forest and looking for fruits to eat because he didn’t have any money when he was younger really made him angry. _Stupid villagers, overcharging him and running him out of their stores!_ He growled and vowed to get revenge on each and every store that refused Naruto service!

The jounin-sensei in the vicinity of Kakashi all shivered as they felt killing intent leak out of the masked-nin. They didn’t even want to know who the unlucky soul was to anger the copy-nin this badly.

Asuma looked at Kakashi and saw him holding his orange book in front of him. _Ah, he must be at the part where Miko leaves to become a nun, taking the rest of the harem members with her._ He nodded his head in understanding. _Don’t worry, Kakashi! The ending was worth the angsty decision!_ He thought, rooting for the white-haired-nin in his mind, not knowing that the other was plotting the demise of all the grocery store owners in Konoha…

* * *

A New Resolve

A Sharingan spun menacingly, as a raven-haired genin peered into the distance. He walked out of the darkness, only to see the Uchiha District in front of him. He crept along the dilapidated buildings, trying to find the source of his discomfort. _There’s something off about this place…_ He thought, continuing along the path, searching for intruders. He spun around as he heard a faint whimper. Running in the direction of the sobs, he yelled, “Who’s there!” He closed in on a corridor where the sound was coming from and yanked open the door, only to see a small child sitting in the corner, his back facing him. _Is that the Uchiha crest on his shirt? Another survivor?_ Sasuke wondered but still called out, “Who are you?” The child rocked back and forth, his arms circling his knees, but did not answer. “Why are you here?” Sasuke asked in the ensuing silence.

Not expecting the child to answer, Sasuke was about to walk out of the room to go find the Police Force, when the child finally whispered. _“It was my fault.”_

 _What was?_ Sasuke wondered but remained quiet.

The child turned around abruptly and looked at Sasuke, who sucked in a breath, recognizing the other. _“Mother and father needn’t have died.”_ The me of long ago? Why is he here? _“Ultimately without strength, there’s nothing you can do. I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t strong enough. Our clan was destroyed. Everyone was killed. Because of you… You let them die, you just stood there and watched, because you’re nothing but a weakling!”_ His younger version suddenly accused him, activating his Sharingan. Crying tears of blood, he said a few words before ducking past Sasuke’s stunned form and running out of the room. _“Without strength, how can we ever hope to avenge our clan?”_

Those last words echoed along the corridor, snapping Sasuke out of his frozen state. “Wait!” He yelled and rushed after his younger form but was too late. _Where did he go?_ He thought, panting heavily in the middle of the road.

“So, you met him, didn’t you?” a voice called out to Sasuke. He spun around to see a clone of him. “The little version of us? The one who still blames us for not saving our parents?” The clone continued, ignoring Sasuke’s look of disbelief.

“How… This… What?” he stuttered out, trying to make sense of what was happening.

His clone sighed and arched an eyebrow at him. “Wow. You don’t remember… I didn’t see that coming,” he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Remember what?” Sasuke asked blankly. This situation was too bizarre for him to react. He didn’t understand what was going on.

“This,” the clone said and poked Sasuke’s forehead with his finger before vanishing into a plume of smoke.

“What did you just…” Sasuke coughed, wincing as a stream of memories forced their way into his head. “Right, I’m back in my head again…” he finally murmured, once the memories stopped. He clenched his fists, remembering how his clone had kicked him out the other time, saying he wasn’t ready to accept the truth yet. Last time, he’d just spent the entire stay watching Itachi leave over and over again. He could even tell them the exact number of tears Itachi cried before abandoning him…

“You’ve finally made it,” another, deeper voice called out to him. Sasuke spun around and saw another clone of himself? _No, it’s not the same… It’s darker this time…_ He mused, noticing how the clone had pitch black hair and a dark navy-blue shirt instead of the royal blue one he always wore.

“You are?” Sasuke asked, wondering why there were new versions of himself this time around.

“I’m you of course!” He said circling Sasuke like a predator stalking its prey. “Your pride, your anger, your… strength,” he whispered the last part and then stepped away.

Sasuke just stared at the other him in confusion. _What?_

“I can’t believe that my outer personality is so weak,” he scoffed. “You can’t even beat the Dobe in a spar when he’s allowed to use his clones. Even Sakura has improved more than you have!” Sasuke staggered back, each of those words hitting at his sore spots. It was true. He couldn’t beat Naruto as easily anymore and was genuinely terrified of Sakura’s tree-shattering punches. “Afraid of Sakura?” the dark clone scowled in disgust. “Since when have we ever sunk so low?” he mocked. Sasuke remained silent, not knowing what to say, silently taking the clone’s words of contempt. “Mother and father would be disappointed…” the dark clone shook his head in displeasure.

“Mother and father loved me,” Sasuke immediately said back.

“Oh really? And do you think they’ll still love you when you’re thinking that Itachi might have been innocent?” he asked cruelly, grinning as Sasuke shrunk back. “You watched him kill them with his own two hands. He _murdered_ them!”

“No! They said-they…” he stuttered trying to remember their last words, but finding his memory getting fuzzy.

“They would want you to avenge them! And you declared you would!” He bellowed, looking down on Sasuke. “But what are you doing now?” He asked in derision as Sasuke fell to his knees. “Do you even remember what it means? To be an avenger?” Sasuke had tears streaking down his cheeks now. “It means to bare your burden alone! Not what you’re doing now, making friends with the loser and the banshee,” he sneered. “What were you thinking? That they’d help you avenge your family? This is something that must be done alone to have any meaning! You need to get stronger, strong enough to fight Itachi and kill him. Only then will our parents be able to finally rest in peace.”

Sasuke looked up from his spot on the floor, meeting his dark clone’s eyes, “Peace?”

“Pfft, making friends. You don’t need any distractions to hinder you. Look at how you almost gave up on the Written Exam because of that girl.”

Sasuke clenched his fists. It was true! He almost gave up on the exams because Sakura wanted to quit. What had he been thinking? How could he let go like that?

The dark clone continued, “And teaming up in the Forest of Death with the other genin? One would think that you don’t want to get stronger. How can you when you don’t fight alone? How can you test your limits when others are butting in and stealing strong opponents away from you?”

Sasuke unconsciously nodded his head. The clone was right. If he didn’t fight strong opponents by himself, how could he get stronger? Teammates and friends… He didn’t need hindrances like those. They’d only get in the way when Itachi came and captured them as leverage.

The dark clone smirked, seeing his words affecting the stoic raven. _Only one more push…_ “Ah, but you can keep around that Dobe. Despite him trying to convince you about Itachi, even when he’s oh so wrong, he’d still make a good best friend.”

Sasuke eyed his clone warily, wondering what he’d say about the talkative blonde.

“As a sacrifice that is…” the dark clone smirked. If he could persuade Sasuke to kill off that annoyance, then everything would go according to the plan. The youngster would fall to the thrall of the seal after killing off that Jinchuuriki and gain the Mangekyo Sharingan, killing two birds with one stone! Then he’d be free to takeover this body and there’d be no angry Kyuubi-brat to stop him like last time. The girl was weak on her own, so no concerns there…

“No! I can’t kill—not Naruto!” he stuttered out, a churning feeling in his gut. Naruto was special… He couldn’t just kill him! His heart clenched as he remembered the blonde’s broken body on the bridge. “Not Naruto,” he reiterated in a stronger voice.

“Oh?” the dark clone arched his eyebrow at him. _This might be troublesome. He actually has feelings for the container… Tch! How annoying! This isn’t good; how can I convince him to join me if he still has bonds to this village? It was hard enough suppressing that inner aspect of himself… This, this would just make everything worse!_ “He’s already a weakness! You need to distance yourself! How can you kill Itachi if you’re relying on Naruto?” Seeing Sasuke’s stubborn face the clone took another approach. “If you remain close to Naruto, he’ll be the first one targeted by other like Itachi…or Orochimaru…” Sasuke’s face crumpled. Seeing it working, the dark clone continued, “You better distance yourself now. It’d be better for you to not be friends with him even if you don’t sacrifice him…”

Sasuke nodded. He’d stay away from Naruto, if it meant protecting him. He couldn’t let Itachi or Orochimaru steal away another family member from him. He’d distance himself from Team 7, so they don’t get hurt. It was the only way he could repay them for treating him like part of their family.

 _Good, everything is falling into place._ The dark clone thought. Now I just have to give him a surge of my power once he battles and he’ll be addicted. _Soon, soon I’ll have those eyes and then nothing can stop me!_ He cackled on the inside.

* * *

Blue eyes blinked, as the orange-genin regained conscious. Naruto smacked his lips together, smelling ramen. He sat up, noticing Sasuke curled up next to him. Moving slowly, to not wake the raven-haired genin up, he got up and walked outside. He saw Team 10 and Sakura sitting next to a small fire. Before he could walk up to them, his stomach grumbled.

“Naruto! You’re awake!” Sakura cried out when she saw the blonde standing at the entrance of the cave.

“Yeah,” he nodded and sat down beside her. “What happened?” he asked after accepting a bowl of ramen from Choji.

“You slept through the night. It’s lunch time now. We’re planning on heading to the tower in another hour if Sasuke doesn’t wake up,” Shikamaru explained as he munched on his grilled fish.

“Is he okay?” Naruto asked, looking back at the cave with furrowed eyebrows.

“He’s alright for now. He had a fever before, but it’s gone now. He should be waking up soon,” Ino said, putting another fish on a stick over the fire.

“You were right about the biting thing. That seal Orochimaru placed on him, did a number on him…” Sakura explained, flicking her empty stick on to the fire absently.

“A seal? Maybe I could go check it out,” Naruto got up eagerly, when Sakura pulled him back down.

“Sit down and eat. You just woke up!” she scolded him, and he pouted like a puppy.

“But Sakura—”

“No, buts!” Sakura cut him off and glared. He gulped and sat back down.

“Speaking of seals, didn’t Orochimaru put one on you too?” she asked in concern.

“Oh, yeah,” Naruto rubbed his stomach, tracing his seal. “I forgot… Let me remove it.” He pushed up his tattered orange shirt, exposing his tanned skin, not noticing the rest of the genin suck in a breath.

Seeing the golden unmarred skin, Shikamaru gulped and shifted, suddenly feeling thirsty. Choji was drooling. Whether it was because he saw Naruto’s flat stomach or because his food was done grilling, we might never know… Ino’s and Sakura’s faces flushed pink as they averted their eyes from the blonde’s toned six-pack. Neither of them could understand why they were affected by Naruto’s body. _Sasuke! Got to remember that I love Sasuke!_ They both repeated in their heads.

Naruto channeled some chakra and grimaced seeing the angry seal on his stomach. _This is going to hurt…_ He frowned and tensed up, sending chakra to his fingertips. “Five-Pronged Seal Release!” he yelled and bit back a scream as he slammed his fingers onto his stomach.

The other genin snapped out of their trances when they heard the piercing scream coming from Naruto. While releasing the seal, the chakra fluctuations activated his bracelet, allowing the other genin hear his held back screaming. The looked at Naruto and could only see the slight tightening of his facial muscles, a paler face, and some sweat forming on his forehead. Other than that, there were no other outer signs of his pain. Naruto slumped over, feeling drained from the unsealing.

 _Yo, Kurama! You there?_ Naruto asked.

 _Yeah, I’m here little one._ Kurama purred, sending some of his chakra down to Naruto’s stomach to heal the burns there, soothing his pain.

 _Good._ Naruto sighed in relief, smiling widely. The other genin watched him carefully for any sign of discomfort.

“Is it gone?” Sakura asked, tentatively. Naruto nodded. “Did it hurt to remove?” she asked remembering the haunting scream.

 _Hey, are you guys okay?_ Kiba asked through the bracelets. _We heard someone screaming!_

“Yeah, it wasn’t that bad compared to some other stuff!” he smiled brightly at her and flashed her a thumbs-up. It really hurt to remove the seal, but now that it was gone, he felt way better than that time he accidentally drank some ‘expired’ milk. Sakura frowned slightly, but accepted it and pushed a bowl of Ramen to him.

 _We’re fine._ Shikamaru replied as Sakura distracted Naruto with another bowl of Ramen.

 _Ok, that’s good._ Hinata sighed in relief and Shino relaxed once again, hearing this. Kakashi also felt relief course through him. He’d been worried Orochimaru had found them again.

Shikamaru deactivated the bracelets and studied the blonde in front of him. _He’s smiling again right after enduring a great amount of pain. He didn’t even make a sound even though it sounded like it hurt so much…_ He frowned. _How many times has he been in pain but we didn’t notice? How many times has he smiled in pain and had no one there to comfort him? How much pain must he have gone through to ignore something of that degree and still be able to say that it “wasn’t that bad”?_

His train of thoughts was interrupted by Sasuke’s arrival. The raven-haired genin looked at Naruto and then relaxed his tense posture. _That scream must’ve been a dream…_ “How long are we staying here for?” he asked, dropping down next to Naruto and plucking a grilled fish off the fire.

“We’ll leave as soon as we’re done eating…” Ino answered flirtatiously, winking at Sasuke.

He ignored her and directed his gaze at Shikamaru. “Anything happen while I was unconscious?”

“After you guys fought off Orochimaru, a sound team attacked us but we beat them off. Then, that creep from before, Kabuto showed up and said he’d escort us to the tower but we declined. He traded an Earth scroll for the extra Heaven scroll you guys had, so now we both have complete sets. The tower is only about five minutes in that direction, so we should be alright…” Shikamaru replied, pointing towards the tower.

“How have we not been ambushed by the poachers at the tower yet?” Sasuke asked after devouring his grilled fish. He was starving after not eating for a whole day.

“I used Naruto’s scroll of traps after Kabuto found us. I didn’t want to take any chances,” Sakura answered her teammate. “They were brilliant! No one’s been able to get to us yet” she praised the blonde who grinned at her, rubbing the back of his head.

“Yeah, those Level 2 and 3 traps should’ve taken care of anyone up to jounin level!” Naruto boasted. “Even Iruka-sensei said they were good!”

“Wow! I guess pranking is actually good for something,” Ino joked, but was still amazed by the blonde’s achievements.

“You know,” Naruto said in a conspiring tone. “Back in the day, Iruka-sensei used to be a Master Pranker as well!”

“Eh? No way!” their eyes widened in disbelief.

“Yup! He told me so himself,” Naruto confirmed, remembering what Iruka had said to him the night Mizuki betrayed Konoha.

“Your traps must be on a whole another level if they were inspired from your pranks. I still can’t believe you managed to paint the Hokage Monument in full daylight,” Shikamaru lazily pointed out.

“Yeah, how did you do that anyways? With that orange jumpsuit and all, you must’ve been visible…” Sakura asked trying to figure out how he’d done it.

“A prankster never reveals his secrets!” Naruto exclaimed, grinning when he saw Sakura pout. He’d actually used his secret hiding jutsu to keep hidden from the prying eyes of the jounin in town. It was exhausting covering the whole Hokage monument in his special Henge while concealing himself at the same time, but it was so worth it! After all, no one found out until the end. _That reminds me, I haven’t taught Sasuke or Sakura my secret techniques yet…_ He pondered it over in his mind, before finally deciding. _I’ll teach it to them after the exams. I don’t want a ninja from another village finding out about it while they’re practicing. But, I think it’s time to teach them it. They’ve both changed a lot after Wave…_

While Naruto was lost in his thoughts, Team 10 packed up all their things and Sakura disabled Naruto’s traps, resealing them into his scroll. Sasuke put out the fire and shook Naruto until he snapped out of his daze.

“You alright?” Sasuke asked him, placing his hand on Naruto’s shoulder. He was sure he heard the blonde scream in pain, but couldn’t place it. _Probably was just a dream…_

“Yeah. I was just thinking about the end of the exams! Let’s go to the tower quickly and become Chunin!” Naruto beamed at Sasuke who returned the smile before remembering he was supposed to be distancing himself from the blonde.

He stepped away and coughed awkwardly when he saw Naruto staring at him in confusion. “Ahem… Let’s go!” he agreed and looked away right as Sakura walked up towards them.

“What’re you guys doing?” she asked, her hands on her hips. “Come on!” she looked at them exasperatedly and turned around, walking in the direction of the tower. Naruto shrugged and followed her, Sasuke trailing behind him like a little duckling (and not just for his hairstyle). Both teams walked through the Forest of Death in silence, reaching the Tower in a brief five-minute walk with no other encounters.

When they entered, Shikamaru only had to briefly stare at the inscription before solving it. “We have to open both our scrolls…” he said. Sakura and Ino nodded, opening both their scrolls at the same time. There was a pop as the summoning seals on the scrolls activated, and then a burst of smoke filled the room. By the time they could see again, the genin could vaguely make out two figures standing in the smoke.

* * *

The Waiting Room

“What do you mean I can’t go and see my team?” Kakashi agitatedly asked, suppressing the torrent of killing intent he wanted to release on the Chunin.

“I mean what I said,” the Chunin repeated dully in a bored tone. “Another ninja has already applied for that position so you cannot go…”

“But I am their jounin-sensei, Hatake Kakashi,” Kakashi glared at the Chunin who just scoffed. Asuma laid his hand on Kakashi’s shoulder, afraid that the other man would attack.

“Yeah, and I’m Bekko, but you don’t see me complaining!”

“At least tell me who’s taken my place,” Kakashi insisted, a small trickle of killing intent leaking out.

The Chunin shivered and looked down at his list. “Umino Iruka has taken over your spot. But I don’t see why, that Kyuubi-brat is on your team and who would want to see him? H-He s-should’ve been k-kicked out the day he stole the s-scroll,” he stuttered as the killing intent ramped up. Asuma tried pulling him away, but Kakashi didn’t budge.

“What did you say?” he asked, lacing each word with killing intent. His mask slipped down, revealing his spinning Sharingan glinting dangerously.

“I-I said t-that um they s-should’ve k-kicked out the K-Kyuubi-brat?” he squeaked, almost wetting himself.

“Hey! Don’t call Naruto that!” a voice called out. Asuma slumped in relief. He was glad he didn’t need to stop Kakashi from starting a fight with the other Chunin who was now trembling like a toddler in front of a tiger.

“Umino.”

“Hatake-san,” Iruka greeted.

Kakashi eye-smiled and said, “Why did you take my spot to see MY genin team, hmm?”

“Hatake-san, I wasn’t aware that it was your spot. Aren’t they free for whoever comes first,” Iruka shot back, also smiling genially.

“That’s true…” Kakashi admitted. “But it’s tradition to have their jounin-sensei meet them at the tower, so we usually get first pick.”

“Usually, but not always,” Iruka pointed out. “Besides traditions are meant to be broken, and I want to congratulate Naruto and his team personally.”

“Yeah? But I want to see MY genin team too. It’s been such a long time since I last saw them, we’ve never been apart this long. Don’t you think you should let their loving sensei see them again?”

“Well, that’s too bad, because there’s only one ticket and I’m keeping it,” Iruka bluntly refused Kakashi. No way was he going to give up congratulating Naruto! The blonde was like a little brother to him.

“I really think that I, as their jounin-sensei, should be the one meeting them. You didn’t even _believe_ that they were ready for the exams. Do you really think you should be the one who’s meeting them?” Kakashi pressured Iruka. There was no way he wasn’t going to see how they were doing. He needed to see them in person to make sure that they were still alive after fighting that traitorous Snake Sage.

Iruka scowled. Kakashi’s words stabbed at his weak point. “Really? I think that I as their academy teacher for _three years_ should see them. How long did you have with them again? Only a couple of months? And I bet you were late to every meeting, so you only really known them for about half that time…” Iruka smirked at Kakashi. He was going no matter what and the jounin couldn’t stop him!

“Yes, but our bonds are as deep as a _family_. You taught over _25_ children. There’s no way you could get as close to them as I did one-on-one. I am now their _most trusted sensei_ ,” Kakashi retorted, his eyes blazing.

Asuma sighed as he watched the two bicker over the ticket. Before the killing intent from the two could grow any stronger, Asuma stepped forward and suggested, “Look, there are two teams approaching the tower, and one of them is mine. Kakashi, why don’t you use my ticket instead? That way both you and Iruka can see your team!”

Kakashi immediately snatched the slip of paper from Asuma, not willing to let go of his chance to see his team again after their encounter with Orochimaru. He clutched the ticket tightly, almost growling at Asuma who just held his hands up in surrender and backed away from the copy-nin. “I wasn’t taking it back,” Asuma said. “It’s yours to keep…”

“Good,” Kakashi nodded, pleased. Iruka watched this interaction and was satisfied that his ticket wasn’t being threatened anymore. Suddenly the two slips glowed, activating and taking Kakashi and Iruka away from the waiting room to the tower.

With a burst of smoke, both men stood in front of Teams 7 and 10, surprising them.

A familiar figure stepped out of the smoke and said, “Hey, kids… It’s been a while, eh?” His cool entrance was ruined by Kakashi, who lazily sauntered out of the smoke, his nose buried in an orange book.

“Kaka-sensei! Iruka-sensei! You’re both here!” Naruto yelled, launching himself at them. Iruka merely ducked out of the way, already used to dodging his student’s tackles. Kakashi, on the other hand, sealed his book away and spread out his arms, catching the blonde.

“Yo!” the masked-nin greeted the genin. They sweat-dropped as they watched Naruto cling to him like an octopus.

“Congratulations! You’ve all passed the second exam,” Iruka addressed Team 7, looking straight at Naruto, forgetting about Team 10 for a moment. “You’re on your way to becoming Chunin!”

 _Wow, what are we? Chopped liver?_ Team 10 thought in unison, feeling left out. At least Sasuke and Sakura had their sensei here… Not that he was doing much other than reading… But seeing Naruto’s smiling face, they couldn’t hold on to their annoyance any longer. If they could, they would stare at his smile all day.

 _It’s way better than watching clouds,_ Shikamaru accidentally thought across the link as Ino and Choji nodded their heads unconsciously.

“YESSS!!! Yes! Yes!! I’m so happy!” Naruto cried out jubilantly, squirming his way out of Kakashi’s grip and cartwheeling across the clearing.

Sakura sighed and slumped down to the ground with the rest of the genin. “He just keeps going and going…” Sasuke muttered from where he was sitting cross-legged on the ground. Inside, they were all wondering how the blonde still had all that energy eft over to be bouncing around everywhere.

“You haven’t slowed down a bit! Eh, Naruto?” Iruka said fondly as Naruto came to a stop in front of his team.

“Humph, exactly,” Sasuke smirked. Being hyperactive was a part of Naruto’s nature. He was a whirlwind of energy. It’d be wrong to see the blonde lying still, unmoving. He frowned slightly as he remembered Naruto’s still body in the bridge.

“Oh, right,” Sakura looked at Iruka, remembering her earlier questions. “Why are you both here anyways? Was it just to tell us we passed?”

“We’re here to tell you the meaning of the scroll on the wall,” Iruka continued, seeing Kakashi had no intention to speak up. “The Third wrote it himself. Do any of you understand what it means?”

“Yeah. Genin’s are either smart or strong; Chunin are both,” Shikamaru lazily yawned.

“Correct! Heaven refers to the mind, while Earth refers to the body. Chunin are the commander unit class responsible for leading their teams. They can only do so by a combination of intelligence and strength. I can’t emphasize it enough. Learn it, live it, and believe it from the bottom of your hearts! Keep the Chunin directive in mind for the next part of the exam,” Iruka cautioned. The genin stared at him, letting what he said wash over them. “That’s it… That’s the entire message!”

“Yes, sir!” Naruto saluted and grinned at Iruka who frowned.

The academy teacher couldn’t help but say, “…But…About the third exam… Don’t overdo things. Especially you, Naruto… I worry about you.”

Kakashi glared at the other man. He’d thought that after letting Iruka test his genin, the Chunin would’ve let go of his doubts by now. His genin were ready for everything the exams could offer! _Well… Except for traitorous infiltrating Snake Sages, but that technically wasn’t part of the exam…_ he amended.

“The day I got the Konoha graduation headband, I stopped being a student! No need to worry about me! It’s proof of my maturity… And I got it from you!” Shikamaru noted this fact down. He was curious as to how Naruto actually passed him exam when he failed the test. Considering Mizuki was absent the next day, he had his suspicions, but he wanted to hear the story directly from the source. Besides without any proof, he couldn’t just assume what had happened. “My temper hasn’t changed, and maybe I’m impulsive and full of energy, but I’m not a kid!” Naruto’s eyes burned in determination, meeting Iruka’s eyes. “I’m a full-fledged shinobi! You got that?”

Iruka couldn’t look away from Naruto’s passionate eyes. _More than anyone, I know what these kids are capable of…_ He berated himself. _I need to let them grow. I can’t keep holding them back, thinking I’m protecting them. They’re ready._ Seeing Naruto’s resolve, Iruka finally relented, “…I see. My apologies Naruto…”

“Heh heh!” Naruto grinned, feeling happy he got Iruka to finally acknowledge him as a ninja and not a little brother that needed to be coddled.

Kakashi looked on in pride, holding back tears. _My little genin are growing up! Soon, they won’t need me anymore!!!_ He wailed.

Iruka smiled wistfully, seeing the conviction in Kakashi’s one good eye. _Well Kakashi... It looks like it’s you and not me… who understands just what these kids can handle…_

* * *

Meeting Gaara Again

Naruto followed his nose to the cafeteria, ignoring his rumbling stomach. “I hope they have Ramen!” he anticipated, forgetting about the instant noodles packs he had stored away in his food seals. Joining the line, he frowned seeing they were only serving fried rice. “Well, guess you can’t have everything,” he shrugged, trying to console himself as he picked up his tray and walked to the tables looking for someone to join. Teams 8 and 10 were fast asleep as they were both exhausted from all the fast-paced traveling they’d done. Sakura decided to join them because she was still feeling the after effects of her chakra pills. Kakashi had taken away Sasuke saying that he needed to check out the seal that snake creep gave him. Naruto pouted at this thought. Sasuke wouldn’t even let him look at the seal to see if he could help him, saying that he wanted to rely on his own power or something to pass the test which didn’t really make any sense because this was a team test…  Naruto shook away his thoughts and focused on where he was. He spotted a familiar looking red-head and slid in the seat next to him. “Hey!”

“Hello… Brother,” the red-head finally answered the blonde. The make-up wearing boy sitting next to him choked when he heard Gaara greeting the other genin. Never in his life had he ever heard Gaara talk to anyone so casually! He usually just crushed them with his sand or… Actually, he just usually crushed them with his sand… He couldn’t believe the blonde’s guts to just plop down next to Gaara, shoving him aside to make room, and then brazenly stealing Gaara’s food while he gorged on his rice.

“Who’re you with?” Naruto asked in between spoons of his rice. Although it wasn’t Ramen, it still was pretty tasty!

“This is Kankuro and that is Temari,” Gaara explained pointing at his siblings who just goggled at him.

 _Is this really Gaara?_ Temari wondered, eyeing her younger brother. _Same love tattoo, same frowning face, same murderous presence… Yup, it’s still Gaara._ She confirmed, mystified at why her usually bloodthirsty brother was behaving so welcoming. She looked at the blonde, quirking her brow. _Maybe it’s because of him?_

“Cool! I’m Naruto! We’re brothers!” Naruto introduced himself, grinning widely at them. The Sand siblings blinked rapidly, seeing his shining smile.

“Wait! You can’t be his brother! I’m his brother,” Kankuro accused after a moment in confusion, not really knowing why he felt strangely jealous at how the other boy was getting along so easily with Gaara.

“Well, I’m not _really_ Gaara’s brother,” Naruto admitted. “I’m Kurama’s bother and Kurama’s brother is Gaara’s brother so we’re both brothers!” he explained and Gaara just nodded, confusing the sand siblings even more. _Who the hell is Kurama?_ They both thought.

“O-kay,” Temari rolled her eyes, not really wanting to know what was going on. “So…” she couldn’t think of anything to say, so she looked at Kankuro, figuring he’d know what to say considering how much he liked to socialize. She always saw him with the girls in their village.

“So…” he picked up. “Seen any hot chicks around here? Oww! What was that for?” he whined at Temari who just scowled. Apparently, she was mistaken. He obviously only knew how to be a horn-dog! _That would explain why he always had red hand marks on his face… I always thought it was a weird new make-up trend of his…_

“Idiot. Those aren’t the type of things you make small talk about!” she reprimanded him. Just wait until they go back to the hotel room! She was going to lecture him on the use of appropriate small talk until it finally got through that thick head of his! It was bad enough he talked to his puppets as if they were real people. _Then again…Gaara still talks to his ‘mother’…_

“Well, what else am I supposed to talk about?” Kankuro whined, sensing an imminent lecture from his bore of a sister. “Baki won’t let us do anything fun… It’s not fair!”

“Maybe that’s because your idea of fun is to wear make-up while you run around the village to play with your dolls,” she hissed at him, making his face turn a deep red.

“They aren’t dolls, they’re puppets. And it’s not make-up! It’s face paint to represent how noble I am!” Kankuro complained. “Women always go weak in the knees for the cool, elite type, not that _you’d_ understand,” he replied petulantly to his sister.

“Did you just imply that I’m not a woman?” Temari asked in a low voice, glaring at her brother who shrunk in his chair. “And that I wasn’t cool or elite?”

“Uh, that is—I mean—” Kankuro floundered, desperately trying to think of something to say to get back in his sister’s good graces. He already had one murdering psychopath of a sibling, he didn’t need another one after his guts! “I mean, that if you were a man then you’d be a super cool elite one that’d attract all the ladies with how tough and manly you were?” He tried, and then immediately regretted it when he saw Temari’s thunderous face.

“That’s it! We’re going back to the room to have a nice _talk_ ,” Temari smiled at Kankuro who shivered at the look on her face. The last time she gave someone that look they ended up running around town in their underwear extolling the virtues of women and how he’d never ever accidentally call them buff ever again.

“Wow, they’re very spirited,” Naruto commented to Gaara, watching Temari drag Kakuro out of the cafeteria by his ear while lecturing him. Gaara nodded in silent agreement. “So, have you talked to Shukaku yet?”

“Who?” Gaara asked wondering why the name sounded familiar.

“You know, Shukaku, the voice in your head?” Naruto prompted, only to still see Gaara looking at him blankly.

 _Shukaku likes to pretend to be his mother…_ Kurama interrupted, remembering how Shukaku had… _issues_ after his time with that messed-up priest who forced him to be stuck in a tea kettle and have tea parties every day with his stuffed teddy bears and the other little girls in the village. _Poor Shukaku… No wonder he went crazy…_

“Your mother…” Naruto tried again, smiling when Gaara seemed to recognize who he was talking about.

“Mother’s name is Shukaku?” Gaara asked in confusion. He vaguely remembered his uncle Yashamaru mentioning his mother in front of him before he tried to kill him. But he was sure he heard him call her Karura…

“Yeah!” Naruto nodded his head. “Except he’s not really your mom and is actually a guy but close enough…” Naruto shrugged. _Maybe he’s like Haku and likes pretending to be a girl…_ Kurama made a weird choking noise in the back of his head hearing this stray thought.

“Un,” Gaara grunted figuring it didn’t really matter what his mother’s name was. _Shukaku sort of sounds like a boy’s name… Maybe mother was a crossdresser?_ He wondered, remembering the deep chuckling that vibrated in his mind whenever his mother commanded him to kill someone. He ate another spoonful of his rice, contemplating how his mother could have died in childbirth if she was actually a guy named Shukaku?

“Yeah, so have you talked to him yet?” Naruto asked again, nabbing some of Gaara’s side dishes.

“No. Mother usually remains quiet unless she wants to kill someone,” Gaara answered back.

“Wow, really? He sounds crazy! Well, I guess I’d want to kill people too if I was stuck having a tea party for 60 years too…” Naruto shivered in horror at the thought of having to do something so boring and not be able to escape. “Why do you call him Mother anyways instead of Father? Since he’s a guy and all…”

“Mother is male?” Gaara asked in confusion. He was sure Kankuro once said that you had to be a female to give birth, but perhaps he was wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time his brother was wrong…

“Yup!” Naruto answered, finishing off his meal. “But I guess it doesn’t really matter… Maybe you can ask him about it later on and see which one he prefers? I mean, in the end, it’s up to you what you want to call him” Naruto suggested, shrugging as he tried to help out his lost friend. It must be confusing to have to figure out if the chakra beast sealed inside you was a guy or a girl considering they look nothing like humans. He could see how Gaara could’ve mixed it up… Heck, even Kurama sort of looked girly!

 _I heard that brat! I’m not girly! If anything, you’re girly!_ Kurama retorted back.

 _Hey! No, I’m not!_ Naruto replied indignantly. He wasn’t girly!

Kurama snickered. _It’s okay, Kit. You probably get it from your father. I remember that your mother used to call him unreliable and girly._ He tried to mollify the blonde’s ego.

 _Really?_ Naruto asked forgetting about Kurama’s teasing, wanting to hear more about his parents.

 _Yeah. He even used to cook dinner in a pink apron when he cooked!_ Kurama grinned feeling Naruto’s happiness through their bond. He’d have to tell his blonde more stories about his parents if it made him this happy.

Gaara didn’t know what to make of his new… _brother_ suddenly gasping for air and he laughed, struggling to sit up right. He didn’t know what was so amusing, but found he didn’t care. It was… nice, having someone to laugh with him and not be alone anymore. His lip twitched slightly as Naruto slipped off his seat onto the floor from laughing too hard.

Once the blonde stopped laughing, he pushed himself off the ground and brushed off his pants. He sat back down and talked with Gaara for another hour about their likes and dislikes. Apparently Gaara really loved salted tongue and gizzard, whatever that was! Finally noticing how late it was getting (and seeing the dark bags under Gaara’s eyes), Naruto decided it was time for to go to bed. “It was nice seeing you again. Have a good night!” He called out to Gaara as they walked down the corridor to their rooms.

“…You too,” Gaara replied figuring it was the right thing to say even though he wasn’t actually going to sleep. Seeing the blonde’s shining smile, he knew he made the right decision. Both of them waved goodbye to each other (Naruto using his hand, Gaara his sand) and went to their respective rooms, eagerly waiting for the next day to come.

* * *

The Eighth Meeting: A New Addition to the Family

“Hey! It’s you!” a glasses-wearing red-headed girl yelled in the corridor. “Wait! Stay there, don’t move!” Naruto looked up and saw a girl running towards him. “Good, huff, I finally caught up to you!” she heaved heavily, leaning against the wall.

“You know me?” Naruto asked, tilting his had in confusion. He didn’t remember this girl and from the looks of her headband she seemed to be from Kusagakure? How did she know him?

“Yeah! I’d never forget my savior!” she looked up at him with fervent eyes. “I’ll always remember the taste of your chakra!” she licked her lips.

 _Great, he attracted another weirdo… First it was the emotionless brat, then came the dango lady and later with the Exams came Shukaku’s carrier and now this stalker?_ Kurama shivered, sensing the other girl’s presence. _Something about her feels familiar…_ He thought, wondering why he was feeling wary?

Ignoring Kurama’s ramblings Naruto replied, “Um… Hello?” He had no idea what to say to this girl who started fawning over him. _She’s almost like one of Sasuke’s fan girls!_ He thought in growing alarm, inching away slightly from the frantically gesturing girl.

“It was just so big! And I thought I was going to die and that it was going to rip me open from the inside out! But then, you reassured me and promised that you wouldn’t let me get hurt! And that’s when I knew I loved you! After that night together, I searched everywhere for you and I finally found you. Please don’t leave me alone again! I have nobody else in this world but you,” she implored, looking deeply into Naruto’s eyes.

“Um…” Naruto was drawing a blank, not knowing how to respond. It wasn’t everyday a stranger came up to you and confessed to you! _Is this a prank?_ He thought absently.

 _This chakra… Why does it feel so familiar?_ Kurama wondered, searching his memory for the answer.

“And I know that we don’t really know each other, but I’d be willing to stay with you forever and ever. I’ll do whatever you want like cleaning the house, or the dishes, or the laundry. I’ll even call you Master if you want!” she continued fervently, gazing at Naruto as if he was her god.

“Wait! Hold on,” Naruto finally interrupted her. “Just call me Naruto. My name’s Naruto Uzumaki, nothing else. Now, who are you?”

“Uzumaki?” the red-head whispered. “You’re an Uzumaki?” she asked with wide-eyes.

By now a good chunk of the genin and Chunin in the tower were watching the two interact as if it was their own personal drama, making bets left and right. They mistakenly believed that the two genin were together after misunderstanding the first part of the red-head’s speech.

“I bet she’s carrying his kid and that they both were doing it in the Forest of Death!” a genin voiced out, pacing 500 ryo in the pot.

“Ooh, kinky! I bet that they met each other before the exams when they were on a mission deep undercover and they only reunited now, realizing their true love for each other!” A Chunin bet 1500 ryo on his theory, convinced he’d win the bet.

“Hah, as if! It’s obvious that they were childhood friends that were separated because of their parent’s longtime family feud and they’re only now finding each other again after 10 years of solitude!” Another Chunin scoffed, betting 2000 ryo on her theory.

By now, the rest of the genin had come downstairs for brunch and were watching the spectacle Naruto had unknowingly inserted himself into the center of. “What is he doing there?” Shikamaru groaned, rubbing his face. This was obviously a misunderstanding and the crowd of betters were only making things worse. No way would Naruto actually be able to do anything with another girl when he was still so dense that he couldn’t even see Hinata’s obvious crush on him.

Ino glared at the blonde. How dare he not tell her this juicy gossip! She should’ve been the first one he consulted when he found a long-lost childhood friend that he loved! She had great advice, just look at Sasuke… Okay, maybe not the best example, but she was still a girl. He should’ve came to her for guidance!

Sakura watched the display in disbelief. She couldn’t believe Naruto had someone else all along when he practically told her that he loved her almost every other day at the academy. _Is this why he’s no longer asking me out?_ She glared at the red-head. _What does she have that I don’t?_

Hinata sulked from behind the pillar, Kiba and Shino shooting her looks of concern. She twirled her fingers together in distress. She’d wanted to ask Naruto something today but there was a huge crowd blocking the way and she was still feeling a little shy even without the seal. She was planning a way to get Naruto on his own, unmindful of what the commotion was about and her teammates’ watching her. After all, she was just as oblivious as Naruto, if not even more…

Choji just moved away from the girls. All of them were radiating very powerful, scary vibes and he wanted to be nowhere near them when they were unleashed!

“Yeah, I’m an Uzumaki! I’m actually the Clan Head in Konoha!” Naruto puffed out his chest in pride. Even though his clan was small, it was still _his_ family and he loved it dearly.

 _It’s her! The she-demon!_ Kurama hissed, suddenly recalling who she reminded him off. _Run away before the red-head corrupts you and you fall for her schemes! Saying it was the red string of fate to connect them, bah! I don’t believe it! RUN BEFORE SHE CAPTURES YOU TOO!!!_

The red-head’s eyes widened even more. “I’m an Uzumaki too! My name’s Karin Uzumaki!”

 _KIT, get away from the creepy lady before she devours you whole!_ Kurama yelled, recognizing that look in her eyes. It was the same one Kushina made in the mirror whenever she thought about Minato… or Ramen… Either way, both were wolfed down until there was nothing left for anyone else. He had to get his innocent little blonde away from this pervert in disguise!

“What? Really!” Naruto ignored Kurama and asked excitedly as the red-head nodded in affirmation. “Cool! You totally have to join our clan! Even if you don’t live in the village, you can still be part of it!” Naruto excitedly bounced on the balls of his feet. He was getting a new clan member! How exciting!

“I’m so joining Konoha! There’s no way I’m going back to Kusagakure when you’re here. I’ve got nothing left back there anyways. It must be the Red String of Fate connecting us,” Karin agreed grasping Naruto’s hands in her own. _How soft, for a ninja._ She marveled, rubbing small circles into them.

 _That line! It’s the same one the she-demon used on her unsuspecting blonde. Oh no, it’s already started!!!_ Kurama wailed, wishing he had his body so he could take Naruto far away from this place and its perverts.

Meanwhile, as Naruto and Karin discussed their plans to have her join the village, the crowd still hadn’t forgotten their bets.

“Pay up!” a shaggy-haired genin held out his hand, waiting for his money.

“Aww, damnit! I was so close! How was I supposed to know that they were related? They look nothing alike!” a genin complained handing over the 600 ryo he’d bet.

“That’s what you get for gambling when you suck at games of luck!” his teammate smirked at him while pocketing his winnings. He’d bet that the two were long-lost siblings that were separated at birth only to find each other again in the Forest of Death.

“Che, kids these days… Having relations before marriage, how shameful! They keep going at it younger too,” an elderly Chunin remarked in distaste.

When she noticed the elderly woman wasn’t going to say anything else, the Chunin next to her couldn’t help but ask, “That’s all you’re going to complain about? Not the fact that they both were related?”

“Humph, that didn’t matter back in my day! How do you think the Uchiha and Hyuuga were able to keep the bloodline in the family? Why do you think the Senju have died out by now? They refused to marry each other saying it led to medical problems. As if! Incest is a part of culture! Long live the bloodlines!” she cackled, making the Chunin who asked her go green. She was sorry she’d ever asked.

Hearing the old woman’s speech, the surroundings stared at the Hyuuga in the room. “It’s not—We don’t—Our clan doesn’t practice incest!” they sputtered, hurriedly denying the old lady’s words as the rest of the ninja just looked on upon them in suspicion.

Ignoring the crowd, Naruto finalized his plans with Karin and waved goodbye to her, promising to meet her after the exams were over and to introduce her to the Hokage. That way she could permanently leave Kusagakure forever, something the red-head was really looking forward too. She never wanted to go back to the village that forced her mom to work to death. Life as a healer there sucked. They were just taken advantage of and used as a tool to be thrown away. She couldn’t wait to leave that hell hole behind. Having a family member just sweetened the deal! Not that she’d ever leave her precious Naruto-sama of course! The moment she saw his dazzling chakra when he took down that bear, she knew instantly that she would follow him anywhere. His chakra felt warm and safe and practically radiated peace, why would she ever give that up to go back to a lifetime of servitude? No, she was never going back there and if she had her way she would stay by the sunny blonde’s side forever.

Naruto pushed through the crowd to where Teams 8 and 10 were waiting with Sakura. “Guys! You’re awake!” he whooped, coming to a stop right next to Choji. “Let’s go eat lunch, I’m starving!” He dragged Shikamaru with him to the cafeteria, Choji eagerly following him.

“W-Wait a moment! Don’t leave without us!” Ino snapped out of her thoughts and rushed to follow the rest of her team. Sakura also shook of her murderous rage and ran after Ino, not wanting to be left behind.

Kiba and Shino relaxed once the girls had gone, taking their scary auras with them. “Hey, Hinata—” Kiba began to speak, only to notice the shy girl wasn’t hiding behind the pillar anymore. _What? Where’d she go?_ He wondered and looked to where Shino was standing, “Shino—” Only to see no one there either! He scratched his head wondering where everyone had gone. “Looks like it’s only you and me, boy,” he muttered to Akamaru who just shook his head at his owner’s ignorance. He barked once to get Kiba’s attention and then took off in the direction he saw them go in. “Hold on! Wait for me!” Kiba yelled, chasing after his friend. Throwing the doors to the cafeteria open, they both burst in and spotted the rest of the genin sitting at a table. Breathing heavily, Kiba plopped down next to Shino in relief that he’d finally found his teammates. He looked around the table and noticed two of them missing (other than Sasuke). “Hey, where’s Naruto and Hinata?”

“Hmm? Oh, they went off to find her cousin. Something about a cursed seal?” Shikamaru answered lazily, reaching across the table to grab the water only to have Ino grab it instead. He glared at Ino, but she didn’t notice, too busy scowling at her cup. Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow at her, “What’s got you in a mood? Are you jealous or something?”

Ino roughly shoved her jug at the table and pouted, “No, I’m not jealous that Naruto didn’t come to me for help to ask that girl out. It’s not like I’m one of his only good friends that’s a girl or anything… All that juicy gossip I missed!” She looked forlornly at her glass of water.

“If anything, he should’ve asked me to help! I’m his teammate and a girl! I even joined his clan!” Sakura interjected, interrupting Ino’s wailing. “And I don’t understand what he sees in her anyways… Her hair’s messy and who chooses to have red hair the color of a tomato anyways?” she grumbled, stabbing her food with a little more force than necessary.

“Like you can talk, forehead,” Ino scoffed, pointedly looking at Sakura’s bright pink hair.

Before a fight between the two could break out, Shikamaru quickly defused the situation, “Weren’t you both listening at all? She’s not his girlfriend, she’s an Uzumaki and wants to join Konoha…”

“Yeah, and despite what that old granny said, I bet Naruto isn’t into incest. Not that he’d like either of you two flat-chested loudmouths anyways,” Kiba bluntly voiced out his thoughts, making Akamaru whine and cover his face at his owner’s stupidity.

“ _What did you just say?”_ Ino asked in a sickly-sweet voice, promising great pain coming his way.

“Uh, I said that Naruto d-didn’t like you?” he gulped seeing a tick-mark throbbing on Sakura’s forehead while she clenched her fist, bending the fork in two. “A-And th-that you’re veryprettyandawesomeandpleasedon’thurtme!I’msorry!”

“Too late!” Sakura smirked wickedly at him, nodding to Ino as they both chased after him. Akamaru just sweat-dropped. At least his owner finally found his self-preservation instinct and decided to run away from those two murderous banshees.

Shino snickered into his coat, feeding his Kikaichu a strawberry as a reward for the good work they’d done, satisfied at how they’d been able to sneakily slip a loss-of-inhibitions capsule into Kiba’s food. _Hah! That’ll teach him not to make fun of my sleep-talking!_ Sipping his warm drink, he watched the two girls chase Kiba around the cafeteria, cackling in glee.

Shikamaru just ate his brunch and pretended that nothing out of the ordinary was happening. He didn’t even want to know what was going on. There was no way he was getting involved in something so troublesome. _Naruto, Hinata, come back soon and get your crazy teammates under control._ He despaired wishing his blonde-haired friend was here.

* * *

Unsealing the Seal

“I believe this is the room they are staying in,” Hinata said stopping in front of room 9. “Thank you for agreeing to removing the seal,” Hinata began bowing, when Naruto stopped her and hurriedly pulled her to her feet.

“No worries! Of course, I’d help your cousin! You’re my friend!” Naruto quickly reassured the shy heiress. “Besides, it’s not even that hard to remove, so stop thanking me for it. One time was enough,” Naruto smiled at her and knocked on the door.

Hinata blushed and nodded. This was a dream come true! Not only was she finally able to remove that cursed seal form Neji, but she was also spending time with Naruto! And he said they were friends!

Before Hinata could hyperventilate anymore, the door opened revealing a genin clad in a green jumpsuit. “Bushy Brows! Is Hinata’s cousin in there?” Naruto asked while shielding his eyes from the brightness of Lee’s smile.

“How youthful! To find Neji to wish him good luck in a competition! I should go do 100 pushups for not wishing you good luck! No, I should walk around the village 50 times on my hands! Or I can—” Lee began but was cut off by another voice.

“Who’s at the door?” Neji asked, coming out of the bed room to see what was going on. He stopped walking when he saw Hinata. “Humph, what does someone the _main house_ want with someone from the _branch house_?” he sneered seeing his shy little cousin and her unmarked forehead. _Perhaps she wishes to command me to drop out of the Chunin Exams and give her a better chance of winning. But that is the fate of someone from the branch house. They’ll have their wings clipped by the main house, being held back so they can never actually reach their true potential, only to die as tools for the main house. Humph, even if she forces me to step down today, that’ll mean nothing because fate has decreed that I’ll be a prodigy while a loser will always remain a loser._

“N-Neji-nii-san,” Hinata stuttered nervously, interrupting his inner monologue. “We’re here to r-remove your Caged Bird Seal.” She shifted slightly, seeing Neji’s blank expression, but was encouraged to continue when Naruto nodded at her. “I-I also have permission from Father, if that is what you’re worried about… Naruto is going to be the one removing it. It’ll hurt at first, but it’s worth it in the end. Father says he’s going to hire Naruto to do the rest of the branch members when he’s free, so probably after the exams…” She trailed off looking at Naruto.

The blonde sent her thumbs up and then raised his hands up to scan the seal, before flashing a few hand signs and yanking the seal apart. Neji, who wasn’t expecting this as he was still in shock, gave a small shout in pain and crumpled to the floor, twitching slightly. He rose to his feet shakily, ignoring the spasms of pain running through him and felt his forehead in wonder. _It’s gone. I don’t feel it anymore! And it’s all thanks too…_ He looked at the breathless blonde in front of him in awe. Staring into those teary crystal eyes, he felt the world was lighter.

“Are you okay, Naruto-san?” Hinata asked in concern. _Naruto. His name is Naruto._ Neji thought dazedly.

“Phew! That took a lot more chakra than I thought it would… But it still was easier than the time I removed yours,” he said looking at Hinata.

 _Hinata?_ Neji looked back and forth between the two genin. Right! Hinata was the one who asked the blonde to remove his seal. Neji stared at his younger cousin, mixed emotions churning in his gut. He wanted to blame her for being part of the main house, for being able to have the privilege to learn the clan’s special techniques while he was nothing but a tool, for being timid and shy and weak when she was born the heiress, for not being strong enough to fight of the Kumo-nin, for indirectly causing his father’s death… But, looking at her flushing face, seeing the blonde who freed him standing next to her, he found he couldn’t hate her. She freed _him,_ when all he wanted to do was hurt her. If fact, he had hurt her, whenever he could. In practice matches he’d never held back against her even though she was younger than him by a year. He interrupted her time with Naruto by sending her caretaker after her even though he saw how crushed she looked afterwards. And… He stole away her father’s attention from her in revenge for causing his father’s death. He knew it was wrong and petty, but he couldn’t help but feel satisfaction when he saw how devastated she looked whenever Hiashi would criticize her and leave to train with him instead. But now, seeing that innocent face, the familiar flame of anger refused to ignite. He felt… at peace, for the first time since he’d been branded. _I’m finally free…_ He thought, watching the two genin in front of him. Squaring his shoulders, he knew what he had to do.

Hinata smiled hesitantly at her older cousin. She was glad he was finally free from the curse that had haunted her for so many years. He looked so open, so calm, like the weight of the world was finally off his shoulders now. It was a good look for him. If she could help it, she never wanted him to go back to feeling like a disposable tool ever again. How someone could believe that they were worth nothing except as a sacrifice for someone else, she would never understand. _Neji-nii-san, you’re finally free…_ Were her last thoughts before she met Neji’s eyes and watched in shock as he bowed to her! “Neji-nii-san! Pease stand up, you don’t need to be doing this!”

“Hinata-sama, I don’t understand why you’ve freed me from this seal but I believe it must’ve been our fate to led us together this way,” Neji struggled, trying to get his feelings across. “You may not be strong, but you’ve shown me that everyone can make a change in this world if they try hard enough and stick to their beliefs. Thank you for releasing me from this burden, I don’t know how to ever repay you other than swearing my service to you for the rest of my life.”

Hinata couldn’t stand to take this anymore. Her proud cousin was kneeling to _her,_ for removing his seal! She couldn’t let this continue, this had to stop. No one deserved to be branded, to be controlled against their will, and now her cousin was thanking her for removing it from him. As if he thought that he truly deserved to be a caged bird for the rest of his life. He was just exchanging one gilded cage for another. She could see he didn’t want to bow to her when he thought she was still so weak. This wasn’t right. “Neji,” Hinata spoke in a stern voice leaving of the nii-san. “You don’t need to serve me. Get up!” she commanded as he stared at her with mixed emotions. She was going to get this through his thick skull no matter what! “You’re my _cousin,_ not a tool to be used and discarded. I want you to be free. Live your own life the way you want to, not the way you’re dictated to. I will always be here for you. No one deserves to be controlled against their will,” Hinata finished, staring directly into Neji’s lost eyes.

“You know, I once had a friend named Haku,” Naruto interjected, making everyone turn to gaze at him. “And he devoted himself to his one precious person because he saved him from a lifetime of loneliness. He followed his savior and did anything for him even though he knew it was wrong. He thought that ninjas were just tools to be used and thrown away…” Naruto trailed off remembering Haku’s devotion to Zabuza. “But in the end, he knew, that you’re only truly strong when you’re protecting your precious people! He was able to save his, costing him his life. That’s why you should treasure the bonds you have with your family. They will look out for you and in return you’ll care about them, becoming even stronger to protect them. You don’t need to devote yourself to one person, you can be your own person, make your own decisions and choices. If you really want to repay Hinata, do it with your friendship and kindness, don’t deny your relationship with her,” Naruto finished his speech. He knew the importance of bonds and how they helped you become stronger and he wanted to convey that to Neji. The older boy just looked so confused as if he couldn’t understand why Hinata didn’t want him to serve her after she helped him. He knew how it felt to be unsure about your place in the world and how it felt like to be treated as a weapon rather than a human. There was no way he could let someone else feel the same way without helping them understand the truth like he did with the help of Iruka-sensei, Haku, and the Hokage and everyone else.

Neji was bewildered by the two younger genin in front of him. He couldn’t believe that Hinata would refuse his service. _Maybe I was wrong about her and the main house wanting to control everyone from the branch house… Or maybe it’s just her who’s different…_ He nodded to their words and stood up, “Alright. I shall keep that in mind. Thank you for everything.” He shifted, unsure of what else to say so he just bid them farewell. “Ahem… Good luck for the rest of the exam. I look forward to facing you both in the future.” Turning around, he flushed slightly and went back to his room, not saying anything else.

There was an awkward silence before Lee interrupted it, “Ah! To see cousins getting along together, how youthful! I’m so glad my eternal-rival has someone like you in his life looking out for him!” he pumped his fist in the air. “I feel energized at seeing such a youthful display! I need to go train before my energy leaves me!” And with that he took off to the training hall planning to do 300 sit-ups in 3 minutes, and if couldn’t then he’d do 500 pushups as a punishment!

Hinata and Naruto stood in the empty corridor in shock, watching the bushy-browed genin rush out of his room, forgetting to close the door. “Wow! He’s super-fast!” Naruto said with wide-eyes. Hinata nodded, also surprised by the genin’s speed. “I’m going to need to train even harder if I want to catch up to everyone else!” Naruto exclaimed, his eyes burning in determination before he grabbed Hinata’s hand and dragged her away. “Come on! Let’s go back to the others to eat so then we can train. I’m starving!”

Hinata blushed bright red. _Naruto is holding my hand!_ And followed the bubbly blonde to the cafeteria, internally trying really really hard not to faint at the close contact with her crush. _Remember to breath… 1… 2… Don’t faint!_ She thought, her heart fluttering as they continued their journey to meet the others.

* * *

“Oh, hey, you guys are back! How’d it go with Hinata’s cousin?” Shikamaru asked seeing Naruto and Hinata sitting at the table again.

“T’was goo’,” Naruto replied with his mouth full of food.

“Eww, don’t talk when you’re eating,” Sakura wrinkled her nose in disgust as Naruto swallowed. She was glad her blonde teammate was finally back. She felt a little lonely without him or Sasuke by her side. The raven-haired genin was still stuck with Kakashi examining his seal. He still hadn’t let anyone look at it yet and was being stubborn, saying that he could handle it all by himself. At least Kakashi had made him promise to let him put another seal over it so it wouldn’t flare up unless he directly tried to use it.

“Don’t be so controlling Forehead!” Ino retorted before turning to Naruto, her eyes glinting dangerously. “Soooo, anything you want to tell us about? Anything _interesting_ happen lately?”

“Hmm, no, not really?” Naruto frowned trying to figure out what the heck she was talking about.

“ _Really?_ So, you didn’t meet a girl who may or may not be your long-lost cousin or something?” She asked, arching her eyebrow at him.

“Oh yeah! You mean Karin!” Naruto snapped his finger, understanding what she was talking about. “I met her in the forest when she was about to get eaten by a bear, so she wanted to thank me. Apparently, her teammates dropped out so she’s stuck waiting in the tower until this part of the exam is over before she can leave. And she’s also an Uzumaki! So, she’s going to join the village and my clan!” Naruto explained happily.

“Why’s she joining the village? Doesn’t she like hers?” Kiba asked in confusion as he fed Akamaru some scraps from the table.

“It’s not a good place…” Naruto’s face darkened as he remembered what Karin had told him about her mother and their shared bloodline. If he had anything to say about it, she was never going to go back there again, and as luck would have it, as her clan head, he could stop them from trying to take her back.

Shikamaru noted Naruto’s tense posture and steered the conversation away from the subject, mentally jotting it down for later. “So, are you ready for the next exam? This one ends tonight,” he reminded them.

“Almost forgot about that! I need to go train! The next exam is tomorrow!” Naruto energetically downed the rest of his cereal and got up, licking the milk mustache off his upper lip. “Time to go train!” he whooped pulling Shikamaru up with him.

“Alright, alright, I’ll come with you! Stop dragging me,” Shikamaru held his hands up in surrender and walked alongside the blonde, Choji closely following behind them.

“But, Shikaaaa,” Naruto whined. “You’re sooooo slow… And I wanted to test out the new seal I have!” His eyes shined as he recalled the seal he was researching for the Dango-Lady. “I think I almost solved it! I just need to twist the squiggly line and put the swirl in a triangle thingy to block out the stabilizer and make it unravel! I almost got rid of all the traps too!” he energetically prattled on about the seal.

“Yeah, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Shikamaru deadpanned. He was shocked to see how far the blonde had gotten in his study of seals. He almost couldn’t believe that this was the same boy that couldn’t stay awake in class and pranked the Hokage monument. _Then again… No one could even catch him even when he was in his orange jumpsuit… In the middle of the day... In front of the whole village… Maybe he really is a genius,_ Shikamaru rubbed his chin as he contemplated the genin next to him. He had to give the blonde credit where it was due. He _had_ made his own original jutsus, even though some of them were a bit…on the eccentric side (cough-the Orioke no Jutsu-cough), but Shikamaru had to admit that a gender swapping jutsu was genius for infiltration (and at nabbing perverts…). The blonde was a genius and if his suspicions were right… Then Naruto was even more special than he thought. _If the villagers and teachers were sabotaging him all along…_

“Shika, Shikaaaa, are you listening” Naruto interrupted his line of thought, and he quickly pushed them away.

“Yeas, yes, I’m listening. You said you wanted to figure out how to make a smoke that can shock people?” Shikamaru answered as the blonde nodded and smiled at him. If his suspicions were right and the villagers and academy teachers _were_ sabotaging him, then he had a lot more work to do to protect that smile. _Nothing will ever hurt him again, so long as I’m by his side_ , he vowed.

* * *

The Preliminaries

“Congratulations to all 21 of you for passing the second exam!” The Hokage announced, smiling at the genin in front of him. He was proud of all of them for making it this far. _Still, it’s astonishing that most of them survived. And that the majority of the survivors were culled from the ranks of the rawest recruits! All the rookie genin made it this year... No wonder the instructors vied for the right to nominate them for this exam._ His eyes hovered on Naruto’s team for a moment. _I hope that curse mark won’t affect young Sasuke… What are you planning, Orochimaru?_ Hiruzen quickly shut down that line of thought and looked back at the crowd, preparing his speech.

“Your students have made an impressing showing! I wonder how much of it was dumb luck…” Gai smirked at Kakashi, trying to rile him up. “…Not that it matters, my team is bound to knock them out in the next round. At the next level, it’ll be all about their abilities or lack thereof. Ah, well… Sometimes being young is all about learning to deal with heartbreak. Eh, Kakashi?”

Kakashi just looked at his so-called eternal-rival and bluntly replied, “Huh? I’m sorry… Did you say something?” Getting on Gai’s nerves was one of his favorite pastimes.

Gai just turned around and shook is fist in anger thinking, _Heh… Good one… As annoying as ever, Kakashi. You always did try to get under my skin with your aloof act._

As if hearing Gai’s thoughts, Kakashi grinned under his mask. He was getting annoyed with all the other jounin underestimating his team. Just because he never passed one before and Naruto was the dead last while Sakura was a fan-girl and Sasuke was bent on revenge, didn’t mean they weren’t a good team! They really grew in the past few weeks, especially after that last mislabeled mission. Naruto was incredible at sealing and his trapping and stealth were on a whole another level, while Sakura was steadily becoming a medic-nin with the strength of Tsunade, and Sasuke was a budding genjutsu and kinjutsu expert! They all also had learned their elemental affinities and were practicing them every day. Some Chunin he knew didn’t even train that hard. They were ready for this exam, ready to become Chunin, and no one could tell him that he was wrong.

Meanwhile, Gai would cry if he knew Tenten was thinking that Kakashi was hotter than Gai, no competition. At least he could take comfort in the fact that Lee still saw him as the coolest man ever. Neji, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about his teacher’s rivalry and was eyeing Sasuke, wanting to fight a strong opponent. He definitely wasn’t itching to fight him because the Uchiha was too close to his blonde teammate. No, he was just looking for a good fight to…test himself and get stronger, yeah…

Sasuke shivered as his shoulder throbbed, feeling someone watching him. _I have a bad feeling about this…_ He thought, looking at the jounin standing in front of him.

Naruto followed his line of sight and saw Kakashi standing next to Gai and the Hokage. _Old man Hokage, Iruka-sensei, Kaka-sensei, and Mega-brows guy are all gathered there! Wow, it’s like a dream team!_

While Naruto was lost in his thoughts, Sakura surveyed the crowd to see who their opposition was. _What the…?! All the applicants from Konoha are here!_ She thought in growing suspicion as she narrowed her eyes at the white-haired glasses-wearing creep from before. _Why is he still here? Wasn’t he a spy?_

“Now Lord Hokage himself will explain about the Third Exam. Listen up and take every word he says to heart! They’re all yours, my Lord” Anko announced, deferring to Hiruzen who nodded.

“Very well. The Third Exam is about to commence… But before I go into the specifics of how it will be conducted, let me make one thing perfectly clear! The underlying purpose of this exam,” he paused and glanced at the crowd seeing their confused faces. “Why do you suppose an examination of this nature is being jointly conducted by all of the nations in our mutual alliance?”

“Um, actually Sound isn’t in your alliance...” the jounin from Oto voiced out.

Ignoring him, Hiruzen continued, “Be very clear about these fine-sounding phrases actually mean: ‘To promote friendship among allied nations and raise the level and standards in the art of shinobi.’ This series of so-called examinations is, in fact… A war-in-miniature between all out allied lands!”

“Ugh, not this again,” Naruto groaned and face-palmed while the other genin watched him in curiosity. “Jiji! Have you been listening to the Mummy-man again? Because that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” Hiruzen coughed, his face flushing slightly. He _had_ been talking to Danzo before he came here to see if he knew anything about Orochimaru… That probably wasn’t the wisest thing he could do, now that he thought about it. “Friends should be allies and allies should be friends, otherwise we’d all just betray each other and die from a stab in the back… I’m pretty sure the point of this exam is to become Chunin… It’s called the _Chunin_ Exams for a reason…” Naruto looked at the Hokage as if he was dumb to not understand something this simple.

“Ahem,” Hiruzen coughed sheepishly. “Make no mistake, when this exam is done, it will have had the side effect of winnowing out any applicants unfit to ascend to the level of Chunin…” The Hokage decided not to finish up with how ‘the essence of friendship in the shinobi world was actually preserving the balance of power at the risk of lives’. Yeah, he doubted that would go over well with this crowd, especially with Naruto here… He really needed to stop talking to Danzo before making speeches or big decisions. There was just something about that man that made him want to do whatever he suggested. Good thing he didn’t continue with his prepared speech… “You will have to risk your lives in the Third Exam and fight in front of our honored guests. Our clients will be watching how well you do to see who they’ll want to hire for jobs after you become Chunin. But before you can do that, you must first pass the preliminaries!” There, that was good enough for an improvised speech, right? Whatever, it’ll have to do. He gestured for Hayate, the proctor for the Third Exam to announce the rules.

“Alright! Before we begin, anyone who doesn’t feel up to the challenge either physically or mentally can walk away. Just take one step forward, because the preliminaries start right now!” A sickly looking-jounin jumped out of the crowd in front of the genin who warily looked at their opponents.

“I’m outta here,” the genin’s glasses glinted as he stepped out of the crowd. The rookie genin glared at him as he walked out of the crowd. They couldn’t understand how he wasn’t taken to T & I yet as everyone knew he was a spy…

“Okay, you are… Yakushi Kabuto from Konoha? Alright, you’re free to leave,” Hayate coughed and waved him away. “Anyone else?” No one moved from their spots. “Alright let’s start then! The board above will display who is fighting who!” The genin turned their attention to the board, seeing it spit out: ‘Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi.’ “Will everyone but our two competitors go to the stands? We will begin the first round in five minutes,” Hayate announced as the rest walked to the stands.

“Kick his butt Sasuke!” Naruto patted his shoulder and then moved next to Kakashi as Sakura approached him.

“Yeah! He’s that Kabuto guy’s teammate, so beat him down!” Sakura encouraged him.

“Good luck, my cute little genin!” Kakashi eye-smiled at Sasuke who grunted and then looped his arms around Sakura and Naruto and shunshined with them to the stands.

Sasuke watched them wave from the stands and smirked at them before turning to his opponent. He was ready for this, there was no way he was going to lose this fight!

* * *

Sasuke vs. Yoroi

“And…Begin!” Hayate started the match and quickly jumped out of the way of the two charging genin.

The genin Sasuke was facing threw out his shuriken and kunai at Sasuke. There was no way he’d be beaten by an _experiment._ He was worth more to Orochimaru, and he’d prove it by beating Sasuke down. Smirking, he threw down a smoke bomb as Sasuke fended off the throwing weapons with his kunai.

 _Damnit!_ Sasuke coughed, as he inhaled some of the smoke and looked around the arena for his opponent. _Where’d he go?_ Surveying the battle field, Sasuke didn’t notice the other genin looming behind him, until he was almost upon him. He ducked out of the way of the chokehold and slammed his heel into the other genin’s side, knocking him off balance. Yoroi quickly compensated and flipped over, smashing his palm into Sasuke’s side and toppling him onto the ground. No one noticed his hand glowing blue before Sasuke kicked him away.

Both genin looked at each other and saw that they both were out of weapons. _Up close and personal, it is…_ Sasuke thought, remembering how Kakashi had told him he wasn’t allowed to use any chakra for this fight. Apparently, the curse seal was still too finicky for him to access his chakra without it taking over him. Not that he needed his chakra to defeat this poser… He quickly glanced at his team and felt something stir inside when he saw them cheering for him. It felt… nice to have people who believed in him unconditionally again. Running at his foe, he held his hands up and prepared for a Taijutsu match.

Yoroi grinned seeing the other boy fall into a Taijutsu stance. _Think of all the chakra I can steal!_ He leered, nearly crowing at the thought of his victory.

They exchanged a flurry of punches and kicks before breaking apart to opposite sides of the arena, panting heavily. Sasuke scowled. He wasn’t able to use any chakra to enhance his strength and speed, so he was relying on only his body’s physical prowess right now. _After this exam, I’m going to train my body to make it faster!_ Sasuke vowed as he ducked past another punch. He kicked the other boy away, grimacing as he felt Yoroi stroke his leg as he was blown away. “I know what you’re doing! Stop it already! Secretly trying to brush against me whenever we’re fighting, you think I wouldn’t notice?” Sasuke accused as the other ninja shakily got up off the ground.

Yoroi wiped off the blood dribbling from his mouth and winced. _Damn, for a shorty, this kid kicks hard!_ Keeping his pain to himself, he smirked at Sasuke and said, “Oh? So, you know what I’ve been doing? How each time we fought I’d touch you?”

“Yeah! You’re a pervert!” “I’ve been stealing your chakra!” Both genin said at the same time.

There was an awkward silence as they both digested what the other had said. Sasuke flushed slightly. He had not realized the other had been stealing his chakra! Maybe he was a little more traumatized by what happened when he was in the forest than he thought… _Well, it’s a good thing I can’t use my chakra today anyways. So, it doesn’t really matter if he’s stealing it…_

“I’m not a pervert!” Yoroi snapped, twisting his head towards the crowd to yell at his snickering teammate. “Shut up Misumi! Stop laughing! Don’t think I won’t come up there and beat you up!” His lack of attention proved to be his downfall as Sasuke rushed up to him and delivered a powerful blow to his neck, directly knocking him out while he was still distracted.

“And that’s the end of Round #1! Winner: Sasuke Uchiha!” Hayate announced as the medics dragged the fallen genin off the stage. Sasuke joined his team in the stands silently as the board displayed: ‘Zaku Abumi vs. Shino Aburame.’

As he sat down next to Naruto, the blonde put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Sasuke… Not everyone is after your body… Only the creep in the forest was and the other fangirls at the academy. Oh, and Ino and Sakura too. Actually, now that I think about it, I think the Mummy-guy wanted you too. Maybe you were right to be paranoid…” Naruto trailed off realizing how many people were actually after the raven-haired genin.

“…” _That doesn’t make me feel better at all!_ Sasuke deadpanned in his mind as Sakura tried to punch Naruto but missed.

“I’m not after Sasuke’s body! I just want to marry… I mean be friends with him,” she snapped.

“Sure, you do,” Kakashi said in a patronizing tone of voice and patted her on the head.

 _Yeah, not helping, at all!_ Sasuke thought, sweat-dropping but still feeling happy to be next to his ridiculous teammates again.

“Woah! Look at Shino go!” Naruto pointed down at the match as the other genin’s arms were blown off. They congratulated the quiet boy as he walked up the steps and sat down next to their team. Turning back to the board they saw it had two people they didn’t know, so they ignored it for now. “Hey, how’d you blow his arms off anyways?” Naruto asked, trying to figure it out.

“I plugged his arms up with my Kikaichu so when he tried to fire at me it backfired and blew his arms off,” Shino explained as Kurenai just stared at him in wonder. _I think that’s the longest sentence I’ve ever heard him say…_ She thought in disbelief.

“Why did you plug him up anyways?” Kiba asked his teammate wondering what had gotten him so angry to be that ruthless with his opponent when he could’ve used his paralyzing stingers instead.

“…He called my friend a monster,” Shino said in a low voice.

“Ouch! I would’ve ripped him apart to if he called Akamaru a monster,” Kiba added in sympathy. The genin nodded, figuring that he was talking about his Kikaichu.

Only Shikamaru noticed that Shino had said “friend” and not “friends” to refer to whomever it was that was called a monster. Catching a wisp of blonde hair, his mind rapidly churned out an idea. _Could it be…?_ He looked at Shino, who gave him a small nod. Shikamaru scowled, but said nothing seeing Shino’s dark mood.

Shino didn’t correct the other genin. He was still pissed that someone from their village would refer to Naruto as if he was a monster. He was used to being called names by the civilian children back at the academy. Unlike the other ninja of the village, they didn’t understand his clan’s symbiotic relationship with bugs and how beneficial it could be to have such a partnership. In fact, they didn’t even try to understand, just calling it “gross” and “yucky.” Although he was used to such words, it still hurt to be called them for just existing, but he could deal with it. After all, it’s not like they knew better. But to hear a ninja, and one from their village at that, spit out such hurtful words about his friend? He couldn’t handle that. The blonde did nothing to them and yet they still insulted his every step, mocking him with monikers of “dead-last” or “monster” or some other hurtful word. He could ignore the villagers. Despite their callous words, they couldn’t actually hurt Naruto as they were too afraid to say these words to his face (and the mysterious consequences that would befall them whenever they dared to mock Naruto where one of his Kikaichu could overhear). But there was no way he was letting off this other ninja! He’d just snapped when he heard Zaku call Naruto a “good-for-nothing monster that was only good as a human body shield and nothing else.” Luckily, Naruto hadn’t overheard the other genin due to the sound barrier Zaku had put up. If he had… Well, missing arms would be the least of Zaku’s worries right now.

* * *

Ino vs. Sakura

When the next names popped up on the screen, the boys gulped, staring at the two girls who just looked at each other with fire in their eye. “You’re going down Ino-pig!” Sakura sneered at the blonde girl.

“As if! You wish! I’m going to beat you so hard!” she retorted, feeling her excitement build up as they walked down to the arena.

“We can finally settle our long-time disagreement!” Sakura added as they stood across from each other, waiting for the proctor to say start.

“About who’s going to get Sasuke?” Ino asked in confusion, wondering why Sakura was bringing that up when they were already over it.

“No,” she said, rolling her eyes at Ino. “About who’s the better Kunoichi!”

“Oh!” Ino nodded and got ready to attack Sakura, just as Hayate announced the beginning of the match.

“Shintenshin no Jutsu!” Ino yelled making the hand signs to takeover Sakura who ducked out of the way only to have to jump up to avoid the senbon Ino shot at her. She hissed as one of them nicked her and she felt her body grow clumsy. “Hah! You didn’t really think I’d use a jutsu that left me helpless, would you?” Ino smirked at her. She knew Sakura would easily be able to break out of that jutsu due to her “inner” from training together. There was no way she’d ever try to use it on her in an actual match!

Sakura cursed herself at having fallen for her rival’s trap. She ignored the effects and channeled healing chakra through her body to combat the effects of the drug. She gritted her teeth and yelled, “It’s going to take more than that to stop me, Ino-pig! Take this! Butterfly needle fire!”

“As if I’d fall for my own technique!” Ino shouted and brought her hands together to form Kai, but nothing happened. “What the?” Ino’s eyes widened as she realized the butterflies weren’t paper bombs but were actually kunai! She threw a shuriken at Sakura who just dodged it, and switched places with it using Kawarimi. Although she was out of the way of most of the projectiles, a few had still gotten her and she could feel herself growing drowsy. _Poison!_ She realized she had to finish this up fast!

“Now we’re both poisoned. Only mine’s a fast acting one, so you’ll have to use your trump card if you want to take me down!” Sakura bellowed and channeled the rest of her chakra into her gauntlets, figuring she had one last shot at this. Since she couldn’t hold back the effect of the poison for much longer, she was going all out.

Sensing Sakura’s thoughts, Ino grinned and used the rest of her chakra to make what she called her “Mud Mittens!” They were the only thing she had that could actually stand a chance against Sakura’s gauntlets. They both looked at each other before dashing forward at the same time to deal the final blow.

“Yaaaahhhhhhh! Eat my Mud Mittens!!!” “Hyaaaahhhhhh! Feel the power of my Gauntlets!!!” They yelled, rushing forward to meet each other’s blows. The shockwave reverberated throughout the stadium, as both girls stood there panting heavily, and almost leaning on each other.

“Huff-T-That w-was a g-good fight, Ino-pig,” Sakura said in a soft voice, trying not to succumb to the poison.

“Puff-Y-You t-too, F-Forehead!” Ino replied in a hushed voice, before they both slid to the ground losing consciousness.

“And… It’s a tie! Double knock-out!” Hayate announced as Asuma and Kakashi hopped down and picked them up.

“It’s okay,” Kakashi said.

As Asuma finished, “I’ve got you.”

“Hey, Ino… Sakura… Are they going to be all right?” Naruto asked Kakashi who nodded.

“Yeah, they’ll be up and about in half an hour…” he replied.

“Neither one is badly hurt enough to require help from the medics and the paralytic poison will dissolve in another five minutes, leaving their systems,” Asuma spoke up. The rookie genin sighed in relief their worry dissipating, but didn’t leave. Even knowing that neither Ino nor Sakura would ever actually permanently hurt the other despite their jabs, they felt they had to stay by their fallen teammates’ sides for now.

“Wow, Kakashi, Suma! What have you been teaching those two? That was incredible for a genin match! Was that Healing chakra and Elemental training?” Kurenai asked in shock, coming over to where her genin were crowded around. She had expected a fight between two fan girls that were barely ninja, not this. It was way beyond her expectations! She looked at Hinata intensely, suddenly wanting to see what the shy girl could accomplish. She’d heard that girl had been training with the other two, and if this was how much they’d improved, she couldn’t wait to see what her genin could do!

“Maa maa,” Kakashi eye-smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew that Sakura had been training with the other female genin of her year and he knew she was studying healing on her own, but he was surprised to see her come so far by herself. He was so proud of her! It looked like those chakra building exercises he’d been teaching her came in handy after all. There was no way she could’ve held onto her healing chakra for that long without them. When she first started, she could only hold on to it for a few minutes before she became drained. Now, she actually could hold it for a good 15 to 20 minutes!

Asuma, on the other hand, was stunned silent. He didn’t know Ino could use poisons or that she knew the faults of her clan’s jutsus. He’d written her off as a simple-minded fan-girl that was only a loud mouth. It looked like he had to re-evaluate his team. If Ino could fight that well, who knew what his other genin were hiding? He suspiciously eyed Shikamaru, wondering if the genin could’ve orchestrated this in revenge for forcing him to accompany Ino shopping as a training punishment. _Nah, he’s way too lazy to do something like that…_ He dismissed, missing the pineapple-haired boy’s vindictive smirk when he saw his teacher looking so confused.

“Sakura was so cool! And Ino was super awesome too!” Naruto praised as Sasuke nodded his head in agreement. He couldn’t believe that this was the same wimpy Sakura from the academy. _Maybe I don’t need to leave them after all… No! They’re still not strong enough to be able to stand up against S-ranked nin! I can’t get close to them, I have to stay away!_ He struggled, trying to justify his reasons to leave them as the voice in his head was urging him to.

The next match was unclimactic, as Temari just blew Tenten and her weapons away with her gigantic fan. It was boring to watch after such a fast-paced fight. Naruto pouted, looking at the board, wondering when it’d be his turn. The next names that popped up were: ‘Shikamaru Nara vs. Kin Tsuchi.’ Shikamaru groaned seeing it was his turn. “Aww I wanted to go next. It’s no fair you get to go Shika,” Naruto whined as the pineapple-haired genin was about to walk past him.

Hearing Naruto moan, Shikamaru felt strangely mischievous bent down and whispered to the blonde, “Really? Then I guess I’ll just have to finish this fast so you can have your turn…” He then hopped onto the stage and faced his opponent.

Naruto blinked rapidly, still surprised by what the pineapple-haired boy had done. “What did he say?” Sasuke asked with a scowl. He didn’t like how close the other boy was to _his_ best friend. Asuma also listened in wondering why Shikamaru had acted so out of character for himself.

“Nothing. He just said that he’d end this fast…” Naruto replied, looking back at the match which had started. He winced as he saw the senbon stab Shikamaru while the Bell-lady dodged his shadows.

Asuma raised his eyebrows wondering why Shikamaru was fighting so destructively. Choji just munched on his chips. He knew exactly why Shikamaru was acting this way. The reason was sitting right next to him.

“H-Hey!” Naruto shouted as he saw the shuriken get closer and closer to Shikamaru’s neck. His hands tightened on the rail as he continued following the fight. The other genin were also watching the match tensely, waiting to see what Shikamaru would do. Naruto sighed in relief as he saw Shikamaru do a backbend to avoid the shuriken, subsequently knocking out his opponent.

“A good shinobi uses everything to his advantage, even the terrain…which includes the architecture as well! You were locked into the same movements as I, but only one of us was close enough to the wall to give herself a concussion! The shuriken were just a distraction so you wouldn’t notice where you were standing,” Shikamaru explained to his downed opponent, rubbing the back of his neck and looking up at the crowd.

“Nice one, Shikamaru!” Ino cheered, already awake again.

“Awesome!” Choji dutifully supported his best friend.

“And the guy acts totally humble… Man, that was cool!” Naruto exclaimed, grinning at Shikamaru. He was impressed by the other’s planning. The way he trapped her by the wall and got her to knock herself out by using mind tricks! It was just too cool! “Nice job. Shika!” Naruto patted Shikamaru’s back.

“Thanks!” Shikamaru said dryly, but still smiled at the blonde, sitting down next to Choji.

“How come you let him call you Shika, and not me?” Ino pouted.

“Troublesome…” Shikamaru grumbled, wondering how she’d noticed. “Just because…” he hedged not really answering. “Oh, hey look, the next round is starting,” he distracted her.

They looked at the board and saw: ‘Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba.’ Naruto whooped when he finally saw his name, “Well, it’s about time! Thanks for being patient everyone, I’m gonna make this worth your wait!”

Kiba gulped as Akamaru whined. Once upon a time, he’d be thrilled to be going up against Naruto, but training together showed him that the short blonde was no pushover. He couldn’t even count the number of times Naruto had defeated him in practice, while he hadn’t beaten the other even once... The closest he’d gotten was the first time they’d sparred. But even then, Naruto was able to perfectly imitate Akamaru enough to bite him and then later on knock him out with a bodily release of noxious fumes… He was never going to live that fight down! Anyways, this was going to be hard!

“Ooh, tough luck Kakashi, but Kiba’s going to take Naruto down,” Kurenai remarked looking down at the genin in the arena.

“Mm, we’ll see,” Kakashi just eye-smiled at her and turned to watch Naruto fight Kiba. He couldn’t wait to see what the orange-genin came up with.

* * *

Naruto vs. Kiba

“And… Match start!” Hayate coughed out before moving away from the two genin. Naruto grinned widely as he carefully watched Kiba and Akamaru to make sure he didn’t pull of any combo attacks before he was ready. Seeing that neither were moving, Naruto threw his kunai at them, and summoned sixteen shadow clones while he watched them weave and duck to avoid the kunai.

“Okay, Akamaru, I’ve got a plan! We can’t go at him directly so we have to trick him and then hit him with a combo!” Akamaru yipped, understanding what Kiba wanted him to do. “Alright, it’s now or never! Four Legs Technique!” He yelled and crouched down on all fours. Launching himself at the cluster of clones on his left, he swiped through them with his clan’s Passing Fang Technique. In an instant, all the clones were popped, leaving only the original Naruto in the middle of the arena. “That all you got?” Kiba asked, breathing heavily.

“Nope!” Naruto laughed and threw down a smoke bomb, disappearing from Kiba’s sight.

“Damn, I didn’t want to have to rely on this, but we have no choice. Akamaru, catch!” Kiba yelled throwing a soldier pill over to him. Chomping down on it, he felt his reserves surge and he became energetic again. “Earth Releases: Flying Throwing Stones!” He yelled sending rocks hurtling in all directions as he tried to force Naruto out of his hiding place. Hearing a yelp, he rushed towards that direction with Akamaru, only to have a pepper bomb explode in front of them. “ACHOO!” he couldn’t stop sneezing! With his senses magnified and the pepper in the air, he was stuck sniffling. _Shit, now I can’t find him anymore…_ “Come out from- Achoo! -wherever you are! Don’t hide like a coward!”

“I’m no coward!” a voice yelled from behind him. Kiba turned around and saw Naruto standing there and scowling at him.

“Really? Then why don’t you fight me like a man? Fist to fist?” he goaded, knowing it was his only chance to catch Naruto off guard.

“Take this!” Naruto yelled and ran at him.

Kiba could hardly believe it. His plan was actually working! He might actually beat Naruto for once! He waited for Naruto to be right next to him before he used Kawarimi to move towards the wall. “Heh heh, you were too slow to catch me!” he boasted, before ducking out of the way of Naruto’s next swipe.

“Will—you—stop—dodging—me?” Naruto lashed out Kiba in between each word, but the other genin was too fast and ducked out of the way of each punch.

“No way! It wouldn’t be a challenge otherwise!” he grinned, leading Naruto right next to the wall. He waited for Naruto’s back to be to the wall before commanding, “Now!” Akamaru jumped out of his hiding place and became a clone of Kiba. They both shouted, “Fang Passing Fang!” and descended upon Naruto who didn’t move in shock.

The other genin watched in horror as Naruto was ripped apart by Kiba and Akamaru. Sakura was gripping the railing so tightly that she accidentally left behind indents in it. Ino but her lip in worry while Hinata gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. She couldn’t believe what was going on. Sasuke just remained silent. He knew that Naruto couldn’t be taken down that easily. Shikamaru smirked. He knew what was going on. Choji just calmly munched on his chips. If Naruto was actually hurt, Shikamaru wouldn’t be smiling that way…

Neji glared at Kiba. He would rip the other genin apart limb from limb if his savior was hurt in any shape or form. He activated his Byakugan and sighed in relief as he saw the blonde unhurt and still whole.

“Wow, Kiba, I didn’t think that you’d actually rip me apart! What if I’d actually been standing there?” Naruto complained from behind Kiba.

“Nah, you’re too good. There’s no way you would’ve been caught by something like that…” Kiba replied, making Kurenai raise her eyebrows at her student. It sounded like he truly believed that he couldn’t beat Naruto, the dead-last of the academy… Maybe looks were deceiving in this case _. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time someone downplayed their abilities to trick their opponents_ , she thought, glancing at Asuma.

“Oh? If you knew that, then why did you attack my clone anyways?” Naruto asked stepping forward.

“I did it so you’d fall for my plan! It’s time to Detonate!” he grinned and activated the explosion seals Akamaru had secretly placed all around the arena when he was fighting with Naruto. The bombs all exploded at once, covering the arena in smoke. When it cleared up, Kiba eagerly took down his Earth Release: Practice Brick Technique and looked around to see if he’d finally defeated Naruto, when he felt a Kunai being held to his throat.

“That was a pretty good plan,” Naruto admitted. “And it would’ve worked too, if I was actually standing over there and not here instead…”

“What-But-Huh?” Kiba stuttered in confusion. He didn’t understand what was going on. If the Naruto in the explosion was a clone, then the Naruto that got hit by Fang Passing Fang must have been the real Naruto, but he wasn’t hurt… Were there two clones? But then where was Naruto hiding? “How did you do that?” Kiba asked in frustration. He’d thought he’d actually did it this time, but it looks like Naruto was one step ahead of him like always…

Naruto laughed as he explained, “So, you remember when I threw my kunai at you in the beginning?” Naruto asked. Seeing Kiba nod, he continued. “Well, those weren’t actually Kunai. They were all shadow clones Henged into kunai. After I summoned my other clones as a distraction, they were able to take care of the explosion seals Akamaru put everywhere and replaced them with duds that only released smoke instead. Then I had a clone pretend to fall for your trap and get ripped apart.” Naruto winced and absently rubbed his ribs, remembering how that dismemberment felt like. He shuddered. If he could help it, he was never feeling that in real life…

“But that still doesn’t where you were or how you got behind me,” Kiba prodded, prompting Naruto into finishing the story.

“After I released the pepper bomb, I used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to launch myself into the air and used Tree Climbing to stick to the wall and the Cloak of Invisibility to hide. When you thought you defeated me, I dropped to the ground behind you with my clone and trapped both you and Akamaru,” Naruto explained.

“Woah,” Kiba sucked in a breath. He couldn’t believe how complex Naruto’s plan was. He definitely deserved the win. “Proctor, I surrender,” he announced and Hayate proclaimed Naruto the winner of the match. He felt a little empty when the blonde let go of him, but quickly shook off that feeling. “That plan was amazing! I can’t believe you thought up all of that in the short time before we started!” Kiba praised, deeply enjoying it when he saw the blonde blush bright red.

“Thanks,” Naruto flushed, but still managed to beam at Kiba. No one had ever congratulated him on a plan well done before. But considering that most of his plans were actually for pranks and not for winning fights… He could see where they were coming from. He walked back to the stands with Kiba and Akamaru, his face turning even redder as the rest of the genin complimented his plan. It felt amazing to finally be acknowledged for his ninja skills and not as the dead-last or the Kyuubi-brat.

“Nice job Naruto, I knew you could do it! Kiba, you also were great!” Sakura said with a smile.

“Hnn,” Sasuke grunted, but grinned at the two of them, showing his appreciation of their fight.

“Congratulations Naruto. It is good to see you will be going forward in the exams, although it is a pity Kiba will not be joining us,” Shino spoke up.

“Y-You both were amazing,” Hinata shyly added.

“That fight was so cool, but you were lucky that your plan worked! Otherwise, what if Kiba looked up and noticed you, or what if he saw you behind him and fought you off?” Ino said, making the rest of the genin nod. Thinking about it, it was actually really lucky that Naruto’s plan had succeeded with all those factors in it.

Shikamaru interrupted them with a scoff. “You guys don’t even know half of it. He only explained the parts we saw, not his real plans. He wasn’t even planning on attacking Kiba from behind. It was a split-second decision, right?” he asked, looking over at Naruto who sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah, actually, my clones filled the arena with traps and seals to beat Kiba. But then I remembered that Iruka-sensei thought my Level 2 traps were way too hard for genin and most Chunin, so I had to stop you from going out there before my clones replaced them with the easier versions… I didn’t think that I’d actually catch you both off guard and make you surrender,” he explained. “And if my traps plan didn’t work, I was going to activate the paralyzing seals that my clones placed on both you and Akamaru. Oh yeah, I should probably get those off you right now…” Naruto trailed off and held up his hands, channeling his chakra to remove the seals he had placed on them. “But, how’d you know about that Shikamaru?”

“I didn’t know about the seals, but I knew about the traps. You wouldn’t have made those clones for no reason and just let them get dispelled so easily…” the pineapple-haired genin explained easily, as the rest of the genin took in what Naruto had just said. Even Kakashi was surprised at how intricate the blonde’s plan was. _Luckily, he didn’t use those Level 2 traps… Who knows what would’ve happened if he set those off…_ The masked jounin shuddered, remembering how dangerous the Level 5 trap he got caught in was.

“Oh, hey, look! It’s Hinata’s turn. And you’re up against your cousin!” Naruto pointed at the board, distracting the genin. “Good luck Hinata! I believe in you!”

The shy girl flushed, but smiled at him nonetheless, “Thank you. I’ll try my best to win.” Walking down the stairs, she stood at the center of the arena waiting for her cousin to come.

* * *

Hinata vs. Neji

“Nii-san,” Hinata greeted her cousin.

“Hinata-sama,” Neji nodded at her stiffly, still feeling awkward from their last encounter. “I won’t hold back. Not because I hate you, but because I respect you” he clarified, seeing Hinata smile back at him.

“Thank you for taking me seriously,” Hinata replied as Hayate started the match. Neji dipped his head at her before falling back, making sure his back was against the wall. The crowd watched on in anticipation, wondering what Hinata would do. The Hyuuga Heiress didn’t disappoint them as she quickly went through her hand signs and released a fireball at Neji. “Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”

Neji narrowed his eyes at the incoming fireball and spun, shouting, “Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!” A dome of chakra formed, surrounding Neji and destroying the fireball. “Is that all you can do?” Neji yelled as he stopped spinning.

“Get ready Nii-san,” Hinata warned before unsealing five colored balls and throwing them at Neji. He skillfully dodged them and threw his shuriken back at her. Hinata ducked out of the way and grinned to see Neji had fallen for her trap. “Detonate: Candy Explosion!” The balls from before glowed and exploded, showering the arena in crystallized senbon.

Neji cursed and began his rotation once more, fending off the attacks. Hinata dashed forward and unsealed her water supply. Sneaking into Neji’s blind spot, she yelled, “Water Needles!” Neji noticed them flying at him and fended them off with a kunai. He did not expect Hinata to suddenly destabilize them, turning them back into water and soaking him. Grimacing, he swiped at his face with his hand, wiping the water away. “Was this your plan? To wet me?” he asked, incredulous. He didn’t understand where his cousin was going with this. _Why would a little water stop me?_ He thought, trying to figure out her motives.

Hinata nodded and rushed forward, taking Neji aback. He quickly went through the motions for his Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms. He knew how to do the other versions, but he didn’t want to hurt her too badly. She did unseal him after all… Hinata ignored his preparations and continued rushing forward straight on. Just before she entered the range of his divination, she feinted to the right, but actually dodged to the left, aiming at his blind spot again. “Lightning Release: Chakra Pulse!” She called out and channeled all her remaining chakra into a shock wave, striking Neji’s wet body, electrocuting him.

Twitching, Neji bit back a scream, and turned around using his Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms to strike Hinata, and cutting off her chakra supply. Both genin were on the verge of unconsciousness. _I underestimated her. I never expected that those bombs were a distraction for the water to have the electricity affect me even more. I should’ve went all out from the start instead of waiting to see what she would do. She truly is a strong opponent…_

Hinata shakily stepped forward, trying to land just one last strike on Neji before she collapsed. Although the electricity had damaged him significantly, he still wasn’t out for the count yet. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to strike him, Hinata took out her last colored ball and threw it at him with all the chakra she could muster. Neji paled seeing the incoming glowing projectile and tried using Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven to block the attack. He was only able to push it off course, making it explode and shake the whole arena. Panting harshly, he rushed forward and delivered a chop to the back of Hinata’s neck, knocking her out instantly and winning the match.

“Neji Hyuuga is the winner of the eighth match!” Hayate announced as Neji stumbled forwards, about to fall when Gai caught him and shunshined back to his team. Looking up, Neji relaxed once more when he saw Hinata’s sensei take Hinata back to where his blonde savior was. Noting that she was safe, he let go and succumbed to unconsciousness, the fight taking its toll on him.

“That was incredible!” Naruto gushed, proud of Hinata’s fight. He was especially happy that the Candy Bombs Hinata used worked well. He’d helped her make them and was surprised at how good she’d gotten at using them. Looking at Hinata’s resting body, he felt happy he was able to help one of his friends become stronger. Even if she didn’t win, he still thought her fight was super awesome!

“Yeah, she did great!” Sakura agreed. “I still don’t get why she didn’t use the wrappers though… Then she could’ve tricked Neji and immobilized him without getting hit and having her chakra blocked…”

“Oh, I know why she didn’t use them,” Kiba spoke up, after double checking that Hinata was all okay. “She used them up in our rush to reach the tower because we didn’t have time to fight people. I think she also used up all her paralyzing senbon too in the Forest of Death.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Ino nodded her head. She’s also been wondering why Hinata didn’t use her special moves in the fight. If she had her special equipment, the fight might’ve gone her way after all. Ino winced remembering the many, many beatdowns she and Sakura had suffered from Hinata. She shivered at the memory of all that pain. Yeah, if Hinata had all her weapons, she’d have been unstoppable. Returning her attention to the board, she noticed the next names were up. “Who are Rock Lee and Gaara?” she wondered aloud.

“It’s Gaara’s turn?” Naruto perked up in excitement, leaning against the railing to see the fight better. “He’s awesome and is my brother! Well, borrowed-brother,” he amended, watching Gaara use his sand to levitate himself down to the arena. “Oh, and look! Bushy-brows is up there too!” Naruto grinned knowing that this would be a fantastic fight!

* * *

A Father’s Perspective

The Kazekage watched as his youngest walked to the arena in a daze. Narrowing his eyes at the fight, he wondered why Gaara was throwing the fight. Although it looked like he was fighting, Rasa knew that his youngest was just going through the motions while his sand automatically protected him. The furrows in his forehead creased further, when he saw Gaara’s opponent release his weights, causing two giant craters in the stadium floor. _What is that foolish boy doing? Why isn’t he fighting back? Where’s his usual bloodthirsty nature?_ Rasa questioned as he watched Gaara’s Sand Armor crack. _Maybe he’s really lost it this time… Not that I’d blame him for it._ The Kazekage thought, sighing and running his fingers through his hair. _Perhaps it wasn’t the best of ideas to send assassins after him, but if I didn’t do that the council would only get on my case even more about exterminating him for mindlessly slaughtering the villagers… I tried to see if Yashamaru could change his ways, bet it seems even that plan fell through when he went off script and said he hated him, messing him up even more. I mean, what the hell? I only told him to hurt him physically to see what would happen if an attack ever got past his Sand Armor, not to make friends with him and then betray him by saying you hated him and wanted to kill him for forcing his mother to death! How on Earth does that even help anything?_ Rasa scowled remembering how his dear wife’s brother screwed up Gaara’s chances of ever having any normal human interactions. He turned his attention back to the match just in time to see Gaara encase the other genin in a Sand Coffin, surprised to see that the red-head hadn’t killed him yet. He watched in growing confusion as Gaara didn’t leave the arena even after he as declared the winner. _What does he want now? Don’t tell me that his blood thirst wasn’t satisfied so he’s going after the proctor now?_ The next few words that came out of Gaara’s mouth shocked him and the entire stands into silence.

“So, all this time… Mother was actually Father!” he heard the red-head spout out. _What the fuck?_ Rasa thought in stunned silence. He didn’t even know how to retort to that statement. It wasn’t helping that the rest of the jounin in the room were eyeing him suspiciously after his son’s statement. _Okay, so your imaginary friend had a sex change, probably because of puberty and your hormones not wanting to have a ‘Mother’ hover around you while you went out on dates, but why do you have to bring me into this?!_ Rasa thought, rubbing his face tiredly and glancing at the wary crowd. He groaned as he saw Temari’s glare. _This was going to be a long day…_

* * *

Gaara vs. Rock Lee

“And… Match begin!” Hayate jumped out of the way of the two genin after announcing the start of round nine. Lee whooped and ran at Gaara, using his Taijutsu prowess to fight with him. Gaara just stood there in a daze, his sand automatically defending him and not letting any of Lee’s hits land on him.

Gaara was still pondering over what Naruto had told him. _Mother is a man so it should be Father, but Naruto says that Mother isn’t actually Mother and is someone named Shukaku instead. But is it actually that Mother was just a crossdresser like Kankuro when he pretends to be a puppet? In that case should I call Mother Father because she…he is a man right now?_ This train of thought repeated over and over in his head trapping him in an endless loop. He hadn’t had contact with his ‘Mother’ for the past few days. He’d only heard ‘her’ say that ‘she’ was going off to visit ‘her’ brother and that ‘she’d’ be back later… Suddenly Gaara heard a rumbling voice in his mind. _Mother?_ He asked tentatively.

 _Yooooo, Kidddd! Whaaat’s going on?_ Shukaku slurred as he reentered Gaara’s landscape. He’d been off with Kyuubi getting drunk in his Kit’s mind mansion and was still feeling the after effects. Who knew mind liquor was so potent? He sure didn’t…

 _Mother…_ Gaara asked hesitantly. _Are you actually a man named Shukaku?_ He finally just blurted out his question, figuring knowing was better than being left in the dark.

 _Ohhhh, Kiddd, you found out! Yeahhh, I’m actually a giant raccoon dude named Shukaku, but you can call me Ore-sama!_ Shukaku announced half-haughtily, half-drunkenly.

 _So, Mother really was a man after all this time, and I never knew…_ He thought dazedly, ignoring the raccoon’s last words, as he fended off another one of Lee’s Konoha Hurricane with a casual wave of his sand. So lost in thought, he didn’t notice the other genin remove his ankle weights and get ready to fight again. Gaara paid attention to the fight when he felt his Sand Armor being breached by one of the attacks. He scowled and let the sand reform around him. He just wanted to think right now, not to fight. He wasn’t feeling the bloodthirsty rage that usually clouded his mind when he was urged by his Moth-Shukaku to kill someone. Gaara grimaced. Calling his life-long voice Shukaku instead of Mother just didn’t feel right even though the voice itself admitted it was a racoon. _How did a raccoon even get stuck in my head anyways? Maybe Temari was right… I am going crazy…_ He fretted, ignoring the bushy-browed genin’s new Lotus stance. He momentarily refocused on the fight when he felt himself being picked up, but slipped away allowing the genin to crush his shell instead. _Argghhh, this is getting annoying! Maybe I should finish up this fight so I can actually get some peace and quiet to think._ Gaara thought, lashing out at Lee with a wave of sand.

Lee merely flipped out of the way and yelled, “You’re a worthy opponent! This will be my last move! Reverse Lotus: Fifth Gate Open!” His hair spiked up as his body rippled, his muscles straining as blood pumped rapidly through his veins.

 _…What?_ Gaara thought in confusion, wondering when the fight even began. _Maybe I should’ve been paying a little more attention…_ He dodged out of the way of Lee’s ferocious continuous attacks, his Sand Armor peeling little by little as Lee got faster and faster. _Okay, this needs to stop. Like right now._ Gaara thought right as Lee grabbed him and smashed him into the ground, destroying his gourd. He growled and clenched his hands in a fist, trapping Lee in a Sand Coffin, but not crushing him yet.

“Woohoo! Go Gaara!” someone shouted from the stands. Gaara looked up to see a blonde leaning over the railings cheering for him. He relaxed his grip on the Sand Coffin, not even noticing the proctor declare him the winner and announce that there’d be a short break while they fixed up the arena for the next match. Thoughts twirled around in Gaara’s head as he remembered his discussion with the blonde about how he could call his voice whatever he wanted. _Right, he confirmed that he was male and since calling him Shukaku sounds weird, I’ll just call him Father from now on!_ Gaara relaxed, his mind finally at peace until a thought struck him. _Wait… Was he pretending to be a girl all this time? Or did he change genders? Can raccoons even do that? Well…I know Naruto can and he’s human, so maybe raccoons can too…?_ He wondered, not realizing that Shukaku could hear him.

 _Hehehe, silly little human. I just thought it was funny to see you call me Mother when I was actually a male,_ Shukaku giggled as he remembered how awesome his prank was. He loved how disturbed the Kazekage looked whenever Gaara would speak to his ‘Mother.’ The old man was convinced that Gaara had an imaginary friend that he dubbed his Mother and used as an excuse to murder people. Messing with that man always made him feel happier. _Serves that bastard right! Humph, sealing Ore-sama away. The nerve of that man, what was he thinking? And he didn’t even get me a good seal. I want a mansion too!_ Shukaku hiccupped as he whined, remembering how glorious Kyuubi’s mansion was.

Not noticing everyone watching him, wondering why he was still standing in the middle of the arena for no reason, Gaara said, “So all this time… Mother was actually Father!” His words echoed in the quiet stadium, as the jounin and Chunin blanched and turned around to look at the Kazekage who was sitting next to the Hokage.

* * *

Temari just glared at her father. All along, he was the reason her little brother was so messed up! They used to be happy together. When Gaara was a baby, he was so cute and fluffy, but then the sand reacted to him and their father took him away to receive ‘special training’. Ever since then, he’d become this cold emotionless husk of a brother who only lived to kill on the orders of his so-called ‘Mother’, whoever she was. And now he finally revealed that his ‘Mother’ was actually their father all along! This was low, even for that man. She knew he sent the people who worked for him that he wanted to get rid of as ‘assassins’ after Gaara to dispose of them, but this? Telling Gaara to go and kill random people in plain sight just because he wanted them gone and didn’t want to dirty his hands was pushing it. She thought that after the whole Uncle Yashamaru fiasco he’d have stopped meddling with their lives, but it seemed like she’d been too optimistic. The next time she saw him, she was going to give him a stern talking-to and while she was at it, she might as well get him to ditch his stupid plan of invading Konoha. Kankuro may not have understood what the blonde meant by him and Gaara being brothers, but she did. And if she was correct, the only Jinchuuriki he could possibly be was that of the nine-tails, and they stood no chance against that force. Heck, they barely could deal with Gaara’s one-tailed beast when it was on a rampage, let alone the nine-tails. Even Konoha’s Fourth Hokage had to sacrifice his life just to seal it away. Frankly, she’d never liked the plan and thought it was a death-sentence to attack Konoha. Yeah, the next time she saw her father, they would be having _words_. She looked at the stands across from her and glared at her father.

* * *

Gaara made his ways up the staircase, only to be tackled by an energetic blonde. “Gaara! Your fight was so cool!”

Taking a moment to prop himself up with his sand, Gaara found himself holding Naruto up. He carefully detangled Naruto’s limbs from his frame and set the orange-clad genin on the floor, crossing his arms. “Thank you?” he replied, wondering if it was the correct response. By the smile on Naruto’s face, he figured it was.

“Come on, let me introduce you to my friends!” Naruto dragged the red-head with him to the stands where the rest of the genin were waiting. “Guys this is Gaara!” Naruto announced happily. “Over there are Sakura and Sasuke and they’re on my team with Kaka-sensei!”

The masked-jounin eye-smiled at the Jinchuuriki from Sand and waved at him, “Yo!” Sasuke just stared at the red-head, making no move to greet him. Sakura smiled but didn’t say anything, waiting for Naruto to introduce the rest of the genin.

“And over there is Team 10. Shika’s the one with pineapple-hair, Ino’s the girl with a pony-tail, and Choji’s the one eating chips,” he introduced with a grin.

“Shikamaru,” the pineapple-haired genin corrected and shook Gaara’s hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said as Choji continued eating. Ino waved at Gaara happily.

“The last team here is Team 8. Their members are Shino, Hinata, Akamaru and his pet Kiba,” Naruto joked as Akamaru barked happily, liking the statement.

“Traitor,” Kiba shot a dirty look at Akamaru but couldn’t help grinning a little.

“H-Hello. It is nice to meet you,” Hinata shyly greeted. Shino just nodded at Gaara, wondering why his Kikaichu were more aggravated than usual by the genin’s presence. _It’s weird, they’re reacting the same way they were when they first met Naruto…_

Gaara stared at the genin stoically and finally said, “Hello. It is nice to meet Naruto’s friends. He speaks highly of you.” He watched in interest as the genin flushed various shades of red at his words. _Hmm, it seems Naruto’s affection for them is returned…_

 _Ha, you got that right boy!_ Shukaku’s gravelly voice echoed in his head. _I was talking to Kyuubi and he told me that those genin practically worship that brat. He’s even got Kyuubi wrapped around his finger! He’s so overprotective of the blonde. He wouldn’t even let me threaten to fight him a little. Said he’d go all Protocol #10 on my ass if I even tried._ Shukaku pouted, the last time Kurama had unleashed that it had taken all eight of them working together to stop him. To this day, he still didn’t know what had set the fox off, but he knew that he never wanted to have to go through that ever again...

 _Kit, pay attention. One of your buddies is about to go on stage to fight,_ Kurama yawned sleepily. He’d stayed up late last night, partying with Shukaku. The overgrown raccoon had drank too much and ended up passing out on his sofa, making Kurama take care of him until he was finally sober enough to re-enter Gaara’s mindscape.

“Wow, it’s already the last fight! Hey, check it out, it’s Choji’s turn!” Naruto replied back to Kurama, unknowingly saying it out loud as well. Gaara turned around to see the larger boy he’d been introduce to earlier, move onto the stage. “This’ll be cool! We’ve been helping Choji learn some new moves. I can’t wait to see how he does,” Naruto bounced excitedly, anticipating the next match.

* * *

Dosu vs. Choji

Right as the match started, Choji immediately used his Baika-no-Jutsu to enlarge himself and catapulted himself at the other genin with a battle cry. Dosu ducked out of the way and launched a sound wave at Choji, launching him into a wall. The genin winced as the wall cracked but cheered as Choji didn’t give up and pulled himself out of the wall. He quickly made the hand signs for Boar and Ox, using Earth Release to shoot a Tearing Earth Turning Palm at Dosu, sucking the other boy into the ground. Choji shakily let go of his jutsu, shrinking down back to normal, thinking the match was over. He was unprepared when Dosu dragged himself out of the hole and used the last of his chakra to shoot one last sound wave at Choji. Before hitting the wall, Choji converted his chakra to Flame Release and sent a Flame Bullet at Dosu, knocking him out just as he lost consciousness.

“Double Knockout: No Winners!” Hayate announced, ending the match as Asuma grabbed ahold of Choji and shunshined back to the stands. Asuma stared at the unconscious boy in a stupor, wondering what had riled up the normally calm and peaceful boy. His opponent hadn’t even had the time to call him fat before he’d attacked! He couldn’t believe that Choji was the one to launch an all-out attack against the Oto-nin.

Noticing his teacher’s dilemma, Shikamaru confided, “He went all-out against the other guy because he attacked us in the Forest of Death and tried to kill off Naruto’s team.”

Asuma nodded. Threatening his friends would definitely ignite the gentle boy’s rage. No wonder he was attacking so aggressively! Too bad the match ended in a draw. He’d been looking forward to winning the bet of the most Chunin-hopefuls he’d made with the rest of the jounin-sensei. _Damnit, looks like Kakashi is going to win again… Not that I expected to have more than Shikamaru in the finals, but I thought that Gai’s students would pass for sure! They even had a whole extra year of training…_

Choji groaned and slowly regained consciousness. “Asuma-sensei, since none of us lost, are you still treating us to dinner?” the larger boy drooled at the thought of the all-you-can-eat buffet his teacher had promised them.

“I only promised to pay if all of you won,” Asuma answered hurriedly. _There’s no way my wallet can feed you bottomless pits!_

“Actually sensei, you promised to treat us if none of us lost. And Ino and Choji didn’t lose, they got a double knockout,” Shikamaru smirked at his teacher, happy to see him sweat.

“…” _My money…_ Asuma’s face turned teary as he remembered his empty wallet. _How am I supposed to fund that victory feast now?_ He thought, cringing at the hungry looks his genin team were sending his way.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t back out of a promise, A-su-ma-san~” Kakashi eye-smiled at him sadistically. He knew that the other had bet on Gai’s team to have more passers than his. Payback was sweet.

“Fine, fine! I’ll treat you guys,” Asuma surrendered, seeing himself outnumbered. He glared at Kakashi, cursing the man under his breath. _And now that scarecrow is the one with the most passers! (Other than Sand, but they don’t count as they’re from another village…) But really, who’d have expected the dead-last to pass?_ Remembering that only Kakashi bet on his team having the most passers, Asuma seethed in jealousy. _That bastard! He knew this was going to happen! And he didn’t tell me even after I generously gave up MY ticket just so he could see his genin? How ungrateful!_ Asuma pouted, thinking of all the earnings he could’ve gotten if he’d betted on Kakashi’s team instead of Gai’s, his own, and Kurenai’s (she’d make him sleep on the couch if he didn’t bet on her team). Actually, now that he thought about it, the only rookie team he hadn’t bet on was Kakashi’s… _No wonder the man has been giving me the stink-eye since the test has started…_

* * *

Kakashi had no idea that Asuma was currently cursing him right now for his good luck. He’d been engrossed in listening to what the proctor was saying about the next exam. _So, the next test will be in a tournament and is in a month? That means that I’ll have the time to train them before the next exam. Typically, the jounin-sensei are supposed to teach their genin in the month, but problem is, I have two kids who’ve passed… Sakura can take advantage of the free month to learn about medical-ninjutsu at the hospital, but that still leaves Naruto and Sasuke… And knowing the council, I’m probably going to be forced to teach Sasuke about the Sharingan in that one-month time-frame._ Kakashi groaned at this thought. Not that he didn’t like Sasuke or anything, but he was a jounin. He could easily make a shadow clone to train one of them and still have time to teach the other, not that Danzo would let him. He’d probably say something like it was unfair to the students to have their teacher’s focus split between them or something and try to take one of them to train. Most likely he’d ask for Naruto. Ever since the Uchiha massacre, he'd been staying far away from Sasuke. He probably didn’t think of the Uchiha as a threat anymore, considering how few of them were still alive… _Seriously, that man just needs to take his mummified butt and keep it out of my team! How many times do I have to tell him, “No!” before it finally gets through that thick skull of his?_ Still, Kakashi rubbed his chin. He needed to find a teacher for Naruto, and he needed to find one fast.

* * *

Ending the Second Stage of the Chunin Exams on a Light Note

“So, did you decapitate anyone in your exam?” were the words that greeted Naruto when he entered his house.

“No! Why would I even want to do that?” Naruto wrinkled his nose at Sai and flopped onto the couch. He’d never get used to seeing the other boy cooking in his pink apron that read: ‘Be nice to me, or I’ll poison your food!’ Sai had taken a marker and crossed out ‘me’ replacing it with ‘Naruto.’ He’d thought it was a joke until he heard his neighbors say his landlord and some of the mouthier villages were in the hospital suffering from food poisoning… After that incident, he’d banned Sai from _gifting_ others food.

“Strange, I was sure that decapitation was one of the core tenants of Chunin training… Or maybe it was actually castrat—”

“O-kay, you’re way off!” Naruto stopped Sai from finishing his sentence, having a premonition about where it was heading. _I knew I shouldn’t have let him read that book!_ Naruto cursed inside his mind, but continued explaining, “We had a written test that everyone who stayed passed and had a survival test in the Forest of Death! Then we had to fight each other in the preliminaries.”

“Did you meet anyone new?” Sai asked, wondering if the sunny blonde had made any new friends. He’d already heard about the red-head that the orange-clad genin had taken a liking to and figured anyone special enough to catch his attention was a cause for concern. _He did find me after all…_

“Yeah, I met these two creeps. One of them was named Kabuto and he was totally a spy from somewhere and the other one was a pervert named Orochimaru! He even gave Sasuke a hickey! You better watch out for him. You kind of look like Sasuke, so he might be after you too…” Naruto took a moment to look at him seriously.

Sai felt strangely warm from the concern, no matter how misplaced or odd it was. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” he tried to smile at Naruto, but ended up copying Danzo’s creepy smirk.

“Good,” Naruto nodded in satisfaction, before recalling something. “Oh, and I almost forgot! My cousin, Karin, joined the clan! She doesn’t have anywhere to stay so she might be living with us after the Chunin exams.”

“Where’s she going to sleep? We don’t have any extra guest rooms,” Sai pointed out, wondering if he’d have to sleep on the couch to make room for her.

“Actually… Recently, I’ve been reading about storage seals and how they work and stuff. I think that if I play around a little more with them, then I can use one indoors to expand the space we’re in!” Naruto puffed out his chest in pride. “But, it’s still a little messed up right now, so I’m still testing it out. I don’t want it to accidentally collapse on us or something,” Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. The last time he didn’t test a seal before using it, Training Ground #4 ended up becoming Crater # 4… Yeah, he was never using a seal without testing it ever again… Shaking off his thoughts, Naruto continued speaking, “Anyways, I was planning on getting a piece of land to set up an actual clan compound, but I need to make at least Chunin to do that…Until then, we’re stuck here.”

Sai wondered if he could help Naruto get a clan compound since he was technically listed as an ANBU, albeit a secret one. Although he like the apartment, the landlord was really messing with his ability to make rational decisions. He suspected the landlord was a missing-nin because whenever he got near him, a genjutsu would cover his mind, making him act rashly. Acting on his suspicions, he “tested” the landlord along with a few other villagers he suspected as being spies. Unfortunately, Naruto had found out and banned him from conducting further “tests.” The one he was able to conduct, showed that the victims were either normal civilians or a lot better at undercover work than he had thought. Considering the fact that they were all mysteriously admitted to the hospital for “food poisoning” right before the poison could be dissolved, led him to believe the latter. _Seems like poison isn’t enough… To flush them out, I’m going to need to arrange a few more “accidents.” After all, Danzo always said that it’s better to cut a suspected diseased tree branch than let it infect the whole tree._

“…Why do I suddenly feel like you’re misunderstanding something?” Naruto sweat-dropped, seeing Sai’s creepy half-smirk he used whenever he was about to do something stupid.

“It’s a figment of your imagination,” Sai quickly answered as the blonde just narrowed his eyes at Sai in suspicion.

“Right…” Naruto nodded his head in fake agreement while mentally deciding to keep his eye on Sai. Who knew what the socially stunted boy would do if he was left to his own devices? Last week, Naruto had asked him to go buy groceries and Sai had come back five hours later empty-handed with only a bill for all the damage he’d caused trying to “communicate” with people. Whoever taught the boy to interact with others, really did a bad job, in Naruto’s opinion. And considering the fact that almost all the villagers hated him to some degree that was saying something! Either way, he’d taken it upon himself to teach the other boy how to talk to someone without accidentally insulting them to the point they wanted to kill you. It was going well so far. They’d only gotten three death threats on their last attempt! A vast improvement from the five death threats, two attempted assaults, and six attempted murders. Sai really knew how to get on one’s nerves. Not that Naruto was much better at this, but at least he’d been able to tone down the villager’s reactions to annoyance rather than the physical harm Sai instigated.

“So, who are you training with?” Sai asked, changing the subject.

“Don’t know yet,” Naruto answered lazily. “Kaka-sensei is going to tell us tomorrow what we’re going to do for the rest of the month. I’m going to train super hard and then beat the Chunin Exams and become a Chunin!” Naruto pumped his fist in the air.

“I’m sure you will,” Sai said in a light tone, but believed it deep inside. The sunny blonde was ready to become a Chunin. They’d been sparring almost every day and even _he_ found it hard to predict some of Naruto’s Taijutsu attacks. They had to limit their spars to only using Taijutsu to not destroy their surroundings, and since Taijutsu was one of Naruto’s worst subjects (other than genjutsu and chakra control), it really was an accomplishment for the blonde to almost tie with him in nearly every match. If he was able to actually use seals, traps, and shadow clones, then there was no doubt in Sai’s mind that Naruto would pass the Chunin Exams. He was ready for this promotion and Sai would see to it that his friend would get it without the council interfering. Naruto deserved to be a Chunin, and nothing would stop him from accomplishing it.


	10. The Ninth Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back with a super long chapter! :) Be warned though, I found out that I can't really write tests or poetry or fight scenes... I probably should've split this chapter in two because it took so long to write, but at least it's super long. ;) I actually just finished this chapter yesterday, just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. I would've had t out then, but I had to edit (which really just means rereading the chapter and hoping for the best XD)... Anyways, hope you like it!
> 
> Thanks for the comments, bookmarks, and kudos! They always make me happy to see! :)
> 
> P.S. I finally drew a picture for the cover and my profile page (but I can't draw well, so they aren't that good... If anyone wants to help draw a cover, just PM me. ;) Also, if you know how to insert the pic of the cover here, please PM me too. I tried uploading it but I don't know what my 'source' is and I don't know how to fix this...) You can always check out my fanfic page to see the cover though.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

 

* * *

 

 

The First Day of the Month

“Why can’t you teach me too?” Naruto peered up at Kakashi through his lashes.

The masked-jounin gulped but replied firmly, “The council forbids it. Besides, there’s nothing left I can teach you… You already know about chakra manipulation, elemental chakra manipulation, and way more about sealing than I could ever understand. The only thing I can really help you out with would be weapons training. But you don’t really use weapons to fight... I could probably teach you a few new Taijutsu stances, but they’d just hinder your unpredictable style. I would teach you more Ninjutsu but all of mine sort of need the Sharingan to use since I copied them…”

“Oh…” Naruto reluctantly nodded. He could see what Kakashi was saying, and it made sense that he’d be training Sasuke considering they both have the Sharingan and similar styles of fighting. “But then who’s going to train me?”

“Don’t worry about that. I asked the Hokage for a special favor,” the jounin eye-smiled at Naruto, happy that his blonde would have another connection to his parents.

“What? You asked Jiji?” Naruto asked in shock. Suddenly recalling a fragment of one of his dreams, he asked suspiciously, “It’s not closet pervert, is it?”

“Who?” Kakashi asked, wondering if Naruto somehow already found out about Jiraiya.

“You know, the weirdo who follows Konohamaru around everywhere and really likes lecturing people…” he explained.

“Ah, that guy… No, it’s not him. The Hokage suggested him at first, but you already know the basics so he won’t be of any help to you. No, I got someone even better to teach you!” Kakashi grinned seeing the blonde hooked onto his words.

“Who is it?” he asked eagerly.

“Seal Master Jiraiya of the Sannin is going to train you!”

Naruto’s eyes widened. _Jiraiya is going to train me? Hey Kurama, didn’t that guy train my dad too?_

 _Hmm? Your dad’s trainer?_ The fox lazily stretched out his tails as he lounged in his hot tub. _Yeah, I remember your mother mentioning him. If I remember correctly, they decided to name you after a character in one of his books. I think he writes the series your teacher likes to read…_

“I’m named after a character from Icha Icha?!” Naruto shouted in dismay. _Were my parents perverts too?_

“I don’t know who told you that, but no, you weren’t named after the Icha Icha series. You were named after the other book series Jiraiya wrote about a ninja who never gave up,” Kakashi explained, not realizing Naruto was already lost in his own world.

_Wait, I’ve got it! Mito said that back in the day Hashirama and Madara were both perverts! And both of them founded the village! After that, Hashirama must’ve passed on his perverseness to Jiji, because his brother was teaching him. And come to think of it, Jiji said the Mummy-dude was on his team too and he’s after Sasuke just like Orochimaru who was Jiji’s student. And Jiraiya was also Jiji’s student and he writes Icha Icha! He must’ve passed it on to dad who infected mom with it. It all makes sense now!_

_Believe me kid, your mom was ‘infected’ with it a long, long time ago. Way before she ever met the Yellow Flash,_ Kurama interjected, trying to hold back his laughter. He couldn’t believe how drastic of a turn Naruto’s thoughts took from the truth. It was hilarious to see the way his Kit viewed Konoha’s legendary heroes!

 _See! He’s even called the Yellow ‘Flash’! He must’ve been a pervert to get a nickname like that!_ Naruto pointed out, acting as if he had an epiphany.

At this point, the nine-tailed demon was shaking in silent laughter. No way was he going to fix this delightful misunderstanding. After all, this was the perfect revenge to get on the blonde who trapped him in here for eternity… Not that he really minded it anymore.

 _Yeah, and then dad must’ve passed it onto his team and Kaka-sensei who then passed it onto only Sakura so far._ Naruto thought, recalling how Sakura fell for Konohamaru’s special boy-on-boy version of the Orioke no Jutsu. _I think he’s still trying to get Sasuke to read Icha Icha, so there’s still a chance for him to fall to the disease._

 _Kit, perverseness isn’t a disease. You should know that by now, considering how your village is full of perverts._ Kurama chuckled, sinking deeper into the warm water.

_Really? But it has side effects just like diseases. The people who have it faint a lot, have nose-bleeds, get dizzy, see hallucinations, get fevers, have rapid heartbeats, and lose control of most of their mental functions when their condition flares up again._

_…You’ve put a lot of thought into this…_ Kurama sweat-dropped.

 _Well, at first, I thought Jiji was dying because of a disease so I looked up his symptoms but I couldn’t find one that matched his circumstances. Later, I found out all of his symptoms were caused by that orange book of his. That’s why I decided that being a pervert is a horrifying illness that sadly, can’t be cured… That’s when I invented the Orioke no Jutsu. It’s the only way to stop them, even if it only works temporarily._ Naruto explained sagely.

 _Hahaha,_ Kurama burst out laughing. He couldn’t hold it back anymore. This was quality entertainment! He should’ve tried meeting Naruto way earlier if this was what came out of it. Every day now felt so light and happy and he no longer felt his suffocating hatred. Instead, he finally felt at peace in the blonde’s company.

“And Icha Icha is a great series! A lot of people name their kids off of the main characters. Especially when it inspired the parents to have a child!” Kakashi continued, before switching back to the original topic. “Anyways, it’s not that I don’t want to teach you, it’s just that you’d learn a lot more from Jiraiya than me…” Kakashi pouted a little here. He was happy that Naruto was getting a specialized teacher suited just for him, but it still hurt that he wasn’t able to teach the sunny blonde anything else. _This must be how it feels when your kids are all grown up!_ Kakashi wiped away a stray tear thinking, _they grow so fast!_

“Kay! But you have to promise to train with me after the Chunin Exams!” Naruto negotiated, instantly snapping Kakashi out of his funk.

“Sure!” Kakashi grinned widely underneath his mask and ruffled the blonde’s fluffy hair. He took out a scroll and passed it to Naruto saying, “Work hard, okay?”

“Un!” He nodded and watched as Kakashi left the clearing. Unrolling the scroll, he quickly scanned it, skipping over the extra chakra control exercises, and went down to the section about Jiraiya. Memorizing the location, Naruto took off in the direction it said Jiraiya was in.

* * *

 

Enter: The Toad Sage

“Hehehe…” echoed from the hot springs, the closer Naruto got to them. He kept walking until he reached the entrance. _The scroll said that Jiraiya-sensei would be inside here…_ Entering the men’s bath area, he looked around and found a spiky white-haired man facing the fence and giggling like a little girl. _Creepy…_ Naruto thought and turned away from him only to see Ebisu.

“Closet Perv! What are you doing here?” Naruto walked to the edge of the hot springs and asked.

Ebisu looked up to see who had disturbed his peaceful relaxation, only to be met by two curious cerulean eyes. His first instinct was to call the boy the Demon-brat, but he pushed it that reaction down. _No, this is the boy that inspired Konohamaru._ Ebisu recalled Konohamaru’s determination when he said that there were no shortcuts and that the only way to become the Hokage was through hard work. _He taught us both a valuable lesson that day._ Ebisu was about to answer when he noticed a spiky white-haired man crouched in front of the fence separating the men’s and women’s baths. Pushing up his glasses, the elite jounin jumped out of the hot springs and said, “I don’t know who you are or where you’re from, but I will not permit any disreputable behavior!” He announced, launching himself at the older man.

“Gross! Closet Perv, you forgot your clothes!” Naruto shrieked, scrunching his eyes shut, wishing he didn’t have to see that.

 _There there, Kit._ Kurama comforted, secretly glad he wasn’t watching the screen at that time.

“Huh?” The other man turned around and summoned a toad who then proceeded to knock Ebisu out with his tongue. “Sheesh! I don’t know where you’ve got your information from, but I, The Most Holy Hermit Sage of the Mount Myoboku Toads, otherwise known as the Toad Sage Jiraiya, only want naked _women_ who throw themselves at me! Not men! Only one of my teammates would like that, and his age range is a lot lower than yours!”

Naruto just stared, with his jaw dropped wide open. _This blatant perv was the one who taught dad?! No way!_

 _Believe it!_ Kurama borrowed Naruto’s catchphrase, snickering at the blonde’s disbelief.

“…You’re the Toad Sage?” Naruto finally spluttered out as Jiraiya nodded in confirmation. “Then do your duty and take over as the supervisor of my training!” _Whoops, that didn’t come out right…_

 _No kidding!_ Kurama face-palmed at the blonde’s bluntness.

Predictably, Jiraiya refused, “No way! I can’t stand rude jerks! And I absolutely hate men!”

 _Shit! What should I do to fix this? Do you have any ideas?_ Naruto frantically asked Kurama for advice.

 _Doesn’t he write those books? Why don’t you compliment them or something?_ Kurama suggested, twitching his tails.

 _Great idea! Thanks!_ “That Make-out Paradise book… It was the coolest… really,” Naruto said with no eagerness in his voice.

_You sounded just like that emotionless-brat right now…_

“Liar! That book is for adults only!” Jiraiya immediately called him out on his lie. “Flattery will get you nowhere. If you really want me to train you, then you should bring me a ripe and curvy fruit!” Jiraiya leered making gestures with his hands. “I don’t want it to be apple-sized or orange-sized this time around, it’s got to be big!”

“Got it, Dattebayo!” Naruto nodded and rushed off to the village, internally thinking, _Yes! I still have a chance!_

Jiraiya watched him go and shook his head in shock. _Minato, your son doesn’t take after you at all… He’s definitely his mother’s child. They even share the same speech tic! At least he understands the virtues of women just like me! Kami knows what I would’ve done if he’d taken after Kushina there…_ The Toad Sage shuddered remembering the red-head’s “shipping phase.” Poor Minato was stuck posing with the other male ninja of the village to satisfy Kushina’s muse... He rued the day she introduced her fellow kunoichi to it. Ever since then, there’d been rumors of him and Orochi-teme that just wouldn’t die out no matter how hard he tried. Jiraiya pouted. _Why couldn’the rumors have been with Tsunade instead…_ But then again, maybe it was for the best. The medic-nin definitely would’ve punched him if she ever heard those types of rumors flying around about them. Settling his thoughts, Jiraiya looked off in the direction Naruto ran off in and promised to protect the sunny blonde. _Don’t worry Minato, your son is in good hands. I’ll mold him to become just like me!_

* * *

 

Naruto almost tripped when he suddenly felt his stomach clench. Rubbing it absently, he decided to go and eat lunch before he went and got what the pervy-sage asked for. He knew just where to find the perfect fruit! Ever since he saw it at the market the other day while shopping in his special Henge form, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. Ero-sennin would have to teach him when he brought him what he asked for. There was no way he was going to lose this challenge!

* * *

 

Minato’s souls shifted in its resting place. He stirred briefly to think, _why does it feel like Jiraiya is going to try and corrupt my precious Naru-chan?_ His last thought before the seal once again forced him into stasis was, _if that shady pervert makes Naruto take after him, I’m going to Rasengan him in between the legs! Or worse, I’ll tell Kushina what that pervert taught our cute little Naru-chan!_

* * *

 

Jiraiya shivered, suddenly feeling as if his dead student was out to get him. He shook his head and continued his attempt at picking up yet another hidden Kunoichi, only to be slapped for all his efforts. Why did it feel like all the female ninja in Konoha got together and were secretly interfering with all his attempts to get a girl? The Toad Sage sighed, rubbing his red cheek, moving on to his next location. He didn’t believe that he wouldn’t be able to get a girl if he tried hard enough. After all, what were the odds that every lady he tried to pick up would be a hidden Kunoichi? Little did he know that he was right before. The Pervert Brigade was indeed stalking him to ruin all his attempts to sweet-talk any girls by inserting their operatives as diversions. By the time they were through with him, the Toad Sage would learn the meaning of the word abstinence. Hopefully, this would be enough to keep his lecherous advances off the girls of Konoha. And if not, well, at least it would serve as a painful reminder of why he shouldn’t mess with women!

* * *

 

A Brief Interlude: Danzo

Danzo was having a bad week. It had first started when he’d tried to get out of bed, only to end up collapsed on the floor, wondering if his ceiling had always looked that dull. After an eventful morning where his cereal had somehow been replaced with packets of Ramen— _Empty packets of Ramen. There hadn’t even been any crumbs, just pristine empty wrappers that had been inflated to look like they were full! What kind of sick manipulative soul would even do such a thing? Maybe he could take lessons from them…—_ and his milk had been switched out for an oozy white substance that he refused to touch after it had _growled_ at him. He was hoping for a quiet day, not that it looked like that was going to happen.

As if his morning wasn’t bad enough, every time he turned the corner on his way to the Root base, he stepped into dog poop! Every. Single. Damned. Time! _How was this even possible?!_ Too bad he couldn’t let out a burst of chakra to check if anyone was following him to lay those infernal animal feces in his tracks. The village was swarming with foreign ninja and he couldn’t reveal his hand that early. Sandiame might be a fool in his growing old age, but other Kage could have specialized sensors that might be old enough to notice something off with his chakra signature. He couldn’t risk them connecting it back to the Uchiha or worse, the Shodai.

Danzo grimaced and took off his sandals, recalling all the shit he’d stepped in earlier that day. He could ignore whoever had done this if they had stopped at that, but no, they had to go one step further. Somehow, they’d been able to figure out which clan each of his Root Operatives hailed from and painted their insignias on each and every mask. Now none of them could run any missions as their masks would reveal exactly who they were, and they couldn’t go without the masks as the powerful seals on them helped conceal their identities from any prying (cough-Hyuuga-cough) eyes. And he couldn’t even use the backup masks because they’d been stolen! Rubbing his forehead in agitation, Danzo looked down at the stack of paperwork in front of him and groaned. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

 

Sai was having a great week. He smirked as he saw Danzo groan again as he looked through the paperwork for ordering new masks. Really, if the man hadn’t wanted to be pranked he shouldn’t have told Sai to give his name as his previous landlord. After all the bad things he’d told Naruto his ‘landlord’ had done, the blonde was adamant to help him get revenge. It was the first time he’d seen vengeance be carried out in such a petty manner. The blonde was a mastermind at annoying people without actually getting them to snap from the stress. He stretched out the torture as far as he could before he made the victim believe everything was okay, only to then go in for the kill. It was really amazing to actually see it play out in reality. _Naruto should join T &I later on. He’s really good at breaking people without actually physically hurting them. I wonder what he could do if he combined the force of his words and his punch… _Sai thought in admiration, reaffirming his decision to follow the blonde. Danzo wouldn’t know what had hit him after Naruto was done with him, and the best part about this whole thing was the fact that Danzo had actually _ordered_ Sai to go along with Naruto’s pranks. So, he was technically getting paid to help Naruto annoy Danzo and the man didn’t even know it! Sai snickered silently as he saw Danzo shoot a fireball at his sandals. Life was sweet! _And I’m sure that as long as I remain by Naruto’s side, it will only get even more interesting!_

* * *

 

Jiraiya collapsed to the floor in dramatic tears after his 53rd failure. “What have I been doing wrong! Why can’t I find a beautiful woman to take home with me?”

As if he heard him, Naruto yelled out, “Yo! Ero-sennin! I brought back what you asked for!”

Jiraiya instantly perked up off the ground like an eager puppy about to get a treat. “Well? Where is she?”

“She’s right here!” Naruto answered and deposited a large curvy watermelon in Jiraiya’s outstretched arms. “I saw this a few days ago and I just knew I had to have it! Who knew that it’d actually come in handy?” He preened, waiting for Jiraiya’s reaction.

“Th-this wasn’t what I wanted when I said a curvy fruit!” Jiraiya cried, tears overflowing from his eyes, as he brought out a knife and chopped the watermelon into even slices.

“Woah, that was so cool, pervy-sage!” Naruto looked at the Toad Sage with shining eyes as he took a bite out of one of the slices.

“I wanted a woman!” the older man wailed, sulking as he saw Naruto finishing off the watermelon wedge.

“Oh, why didn’t you just say so?” Naruto asked and made the hand seals for his Orioke no Jutsu. “Is this what you wanted, Ji-rai-ya-sama~” he asked, winking and blowing him a kiss.

“Yeah!” The other man gave him a thumbs-up, grinning in a daze as blood leaked from his nose.

Naruto sweat-dropped but still asked in a flirtatious voice, “Will you train me now, sensei~?”

“Oh, yes, I’d do _anything_ for you,” Jiraiya promised in a stupor as he circled Naruto.

“Cool!” Naruto said and transformed back into himself.

Apparently, the old pervert wasn’t finished gawking because he said, “But… only if you stay in that form…” Naruto just blankly stared at the man, wondering if this was a bad idea after all. Noticing his godson looking up at him distrustfully Jiraiya coughed, “Ahem, I was only joking… Ha ha, but all joking aside… Alright, I’ll supervise your training.”

“Wahoo!” Naruto jumped up in joy.

Jiraiya smiled. It was nice seeing his godson happy. He hadn’t been able to be there for the first part of the boy’s life, but now that he was, he’d do anything to see the blonde smiling happily. He knew Naruto’s childhood must’ve been lonely, with no one there to look after him. The Sandiame had banned him and Kakashi from interacting with the blonde due to the fear that his parentage may be revealed. It was a downer that in his first real meeting with the child, he’d had to act as though he didn’t want to train the boy and only took an interest in him due to pity to throw off any spies off the trail of the blonde’s origins. He wasn’t really worried about anyone from Iwa finding out, but if Danzo or the council found out… The Toad Sage grimaced. There was no way his godson was being forced into a marriage for a political alliance! Although, Danzo probably wouldn’t back that idea like the rest of the council. He’d probably do something much worse. Jiraiya could just see the old war hawk releasing information about Naruto’s parentage as an excuse to declare war on Iwa and Kumo.

Either way, he was glad that he was finally getting to spend quality time with his godson. He couldn’t wait to teach the blonde Rasengan! Speaking of training, he had better find out what Naruto already knew. “So, before we begin, I need you to tell me what you can do so far.”

“Well, I know how to do Kawarimi and Henge and have an unpredictable Taijutsu style according to Kaka-sensei. I’m okay with weapons I guess, but I don’t really use them… What else do I know? Oh, yeah! I also know the campfire three along with the modified versions.” Jiraiya nodded. He’d heard how his godson had modified those three jutsus to become more useful, and he couldn’t be prouder! The kid was a natural. He was already taking after his perverted ways. Jiraiya reminisced about how he made his Transparent Escape Technique to spy on the girls’ hot springs. _Good times. Good times…_ “And I know Kage Bunshin and a whole bunch of Wind Jutsus! Iruka-sensei says my traps can trick jounin and I just finished off the sealing books Kaka-sensei gave me. I’m probably expert level now!” Naruto grinned. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at the last remark. He could believe the rest, but an expert level mastery in seals? Even he himself, with his years of studying, was only barely master level. Either this kid was fooling himself or the last thirty years he’d spent on sealing were wasted.

“Hmm? So, if I tested you on expert level seals, you’d be able to pass?” Jiraiya asked and Naruto nodded. “Okay, then here, try filling this out,” he said, humoring the blonde. According to the Hokage, Naruto had only started seals recently, so he should only be at the beginner level right now, and at most the intermediate level.

While he was thinking, Naruto had already filled out the scroll. “Hey, Ero-sennin, you sure this is really the expert level test? It’s way too easy!” Naruto frowned looking at the simple seal scenarios.

“Oi, don’t underestimate me brat!” Jiraiya said aloud while inwardly, he was proud that Naruto was past the beginner level. “That scroll contains the tests for all the levels. You have to pass each section to get to the next. It gets harder and harder as you go along. Once you finish one set of answers, the scroll will unroll itself and let you answer the next set of questions. At the end of it, it’ll take in your chakra and spit out a customized badge saying what level of seal mastery you have,” Jiraiya explained the features of the scroll. Although they were expensive to use on beginner level seal masters, he was fine with letting Naruto use this one to get his own badge.

He still had plenty of them sealed away in his pack. He’d been trying to pass the legendary master level of sealing’s entry tests for the past few months now with no success. The Seal Association’s Guild had made these disposable testing scrolls because most seal masters were either hermits or wandered the world like Jiraiya did. They usually didn’t stick around in a place long enough to sit through a test. To standardize the level of all seal users, the Seal Association had decided to make these scrolls and just have them add the test results to their archives at headquarters. As each scroll only worked based on a person’s chakra signature, none of the test takers could cheat or use someone else’s badge. It really was an ingenious invention when you thought about it. Jiraiya sat down against the tree, watching Naruto fill out the scroll. He was excited to see what the blonde’s level was and couldn’t wait to teach him everything he knew about seals!

* * *

 

The Sealing Test

_Congratulations! You have passed the beginner level examinations! This tested your knowledge on simple sealing theory and mastery of the basic three: The Enclosing Technique, The Unsealing Technique, and The Explosive Tag._

_However, that is not all that is needed for sealing. Although you can make them, we must see if you can use them. Before continuing any further, we must test your logical thinking skills. You will be given a number of scenarios and we wish to see how you will solve them using only the above three seals._

_After this part of the exam, we will release your scores for both parts and you may choose to continue on to the intermediate level exams._

_And let the tests begin! May the odds ever be in your favor!_

Almost vibrating in excitement, Naruto eagerly awaited the next set of questions. He quickly scanned the scenarios and picked up his brush, ready to fill out the rest.

_Scenario 1: You are resting in an inn, waiting for dinner when you find out the town is suffering from a famine due to drought. You remember that you passed a lush forest filled with wildlife on your way here. The village leader asks for your help. What do you do?_

Naruto’s first thought was to tell everyone in the village to just go to the forest for food. Foraging was always fun, and you could always find the most interesting mushrooms to eat, but he dismissed it as he figured civilians wouldn’t know which ones were safe to eat. Biting the edge of his brush, he pondered it over before brightening up, finally thinking of an answer!

_First, I’d go back to the forest and use the Enclosing Technique to seal a bunch of food and meat away. Then I’d go find the stream and use Explosive Tags to redirect it to the village. And finally, I’d go back to the village and use the Unsealing Technique to let everyone eat what I got back from the forest!_

Naruto grinned as he finished off his answer with a flourish. This wasn’t too bad! He hummed and moved on to the next question. Easily answering the other two scenarios, he closed up his scroll, signaling he was finished, and waited for his results. The scroll glowed and unrolled, revealing how he’d done.

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_Seal Theory (40/40)_

_Enclosing Technique (20/20)_

_Explosive Tag (20/20)_

_Unsealing Technique (20/20)_

_Overall: (100/100)_

_You are now an official Intermediate Level Seal Specialist! If you wish to stop the tests, close your scroll. Otherwise, please wait for the next test to begin._

_3…_

_2…_

_1…_

_Welcome to the Intermediate level tests. Please diagnose the following seals that appear on the page and explain how they can be removed._

Naruto scrunched his nose up as he quickly made his way through the list. He’d already practiced identifying seals on people before at Shikamaru’s house, so this was a piece of cake to him. The blonde almost laughed as he recognized the last seal. It was the same one the Snake Creep gave him in the Forest of Death! Writing down all he knew about the Five Elements Seal and Unseal, he closed up the scroll and waited for the next portion of the test.

_Well done! You have passed the intermediate level test! To become an expert at sealing, you must be able to modify already existing seals. The next test will show you a seal and it is your job to modify it._

_I would wish you good luck, but I don’t believe in luck. So, may the seals be with you!_

Fidgeting, Naruto stared at the scroll, wanting to see what seal he’d have to modify. _Maybe they’re going to give me a Chakra Draining Seal, or a Barrier Talisman. Or maybe they’d let me mess around with a Contract Seal!_ Naruto excitedly imagined all the possibilities. He couldn’t wait to see what he’d get.

The scroll unrolled and revealed the seal called Watch Your Steps! Naruto fell over when he saw his long-awaited test was something so simple. “What the heck! This is way too easy!” the blonde grumbled, but easily modified the seal to have it bombard the victim with never-ending frying pans until they lost consciousness instead of only the two from the original technique. Naruto closed the scroll and hoped the next seal would be cooler. Opening it again, this time the seal was the same one that Sai used to have: The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. “Alright! This is what I’m talking about!” Naruto giddily started working on the seal, erasing lines here and there, adding extra spirals and triangles until the seal no longer resembled what it was before.

Jiraiya snuck a peak at the convoluted mess and sweat-dropped thinking that Naruto wasn’t going to pass. Well, the kid had done well so far. He’d already passed the intermediate level tests, which is where he’d expected the genin to be. That was already amazing considering he’d only started sealing a few months ago! He couldn’t wait to train the blonde!

Kurama face-palmed as he read the Toad Sage’s thoughts. The old pervert honestly didn’t believe that Naruto could pass this exam, but he knew better. The seal that his Kit had made was almost to the level of things he’d seen his father make! Although he had no idea what the seal was supposed to do, he knew that Naruto was definitely going to pass this test. Settling lazily on the couch, Kurama smirked. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Jiraiya’s face when the Kit surpassed him!

Not noticing the other two’s reactions, Naruto finished up modifying the last seal on the paper. It was just a simple smoke releasing seal called The Winding Smoke Technique. Naruto altered it to release sleeping gas that was colored orange instead of the green smoke from before. He figured a seal that sent everyone to sleep was better than one that just spewed out smoke to obscure everyone’s vision. And orange was a way cooler color than green anyways!

The scroll shut itself and sent the results to headquarters for the graders to check. Jiraiya grinned at Naruto, knowing that it’d take the graders at least five minutes for each modification to see if the seal was valid and if it actually could do what the description said it would. He couldn’t wait to see what Naruto had come up with, even if they weren’t likely to work.

* * *

 

Seal Masters Headquarters

“Yo, Boss, we got another test to grade!” A researcher shouted out when he noticed the test scrolls glowing.

“It’s not another one of Jiraiya’s, is it? He’s such a nuisance. I don’t want to see another one of his testing scrolls again!” A grumpy old man looked at the researcher in distaste. Usually, he’d welcome the glowing of another scroll as it meant welcoming a new Fuinjutsu expert into their small circle. But, lately, all the glowing scrolls have been from that annoying Toad Sage who never knew when to give up. He’d just barely passed the master level exit tests. He wasn’t ready yet for the legendary master level entry tests. Although Jiraiya knew this, it didn’t stop him from submitting a new test every single day leading to more and more paperwork. _It’s like he’s doing this on purpose, out of spite, because he couldn’t pass and he knew that the bane of any Kage was paperwork…_

“Ah, no Boss, this time it’s a kid named Uzumaki Naruto…” the researcher trailed off.

“Uzumaki? Did you say Uzumaki?” the other researchers perked up, wanting to know if the new test taker was from the legendary clan of seal masters that had all been wiped out.

“Uzumaki, eh?” The old man rubbed his long white beard. “Didn’t we have another one of them working for us? Maybe we could get her to mentor this child.”

The researcher racked his brain trying to remember whom his Boss was talking about, “Ah! You mean Honoka, don’t you?” He swallowed, remembering what had happened to her. “We, um, lost her on The Forgotten Island, Boss… And we never actually found out if she was an Uzumaki or not.”

“…Right,” The elderly man slowly nodded, remembering that report. “So, this is our last chance to find out about the legendary Uzumaki Clan, and more importantly their seals!” He almost drooled at the thought of laying his hands on those masterpieces. “Quick, put up his test on the enlarging seal so everyone can see it!” he commanded, the researchers quickly moving to follow his instructions. Silence followed as they digested what they read.

“How old was he again?” an assistant asked, convinced she was looking at the expertise of an old Uzumaki relic who trained in the art of sealing for at least 60 years.

Shaking as he announced this, the researcher read out, “He’s only turned 12 this year…”

“What!? No way!!!” the researchers were shocked. They couldn’t believe that the youngster had accomplished something so amazing!

“Get a hold of this! He’s only been studying sealing for a few months, and Jiraiya was the one who gave him the testing scroll!” Another researcher announced, looking at the test paper.

“I always knew I liked Jiraiya. He’s been such an asset to the guild. Remind me to invite him and his student over for dinner sometime soon,” the old guild master said, rubbing his long white beard sagely.

The researchers sweat-dropped, thinking, _didn’t you just say that he was such a nuisance and that you didn’t want to see another one of his testing scrolls again?_

“This is a masterpiece! Award him full points! He’s definitely ready for the next test! Oh, and don’t sign it by the acronym. SAG, who thought of that anyways? It’s horrendous” the guild master grumbled.

“…Um, you did Boss. You said the old one SIC for Sealer’s Information Center was worse and that you didn’t want to be known as a sicko… Not that the new one is much better…” The assistant mumbled, the other researchers agreeing with her.

Ignoring them, the old master turned his attention back to the seals as the researchers nodded and hurriedly obeyed, leaving the old man to his thoughts. _I wonder how far this little one will come in his studies… Ashina, I hope you know that your genius has lived on to be inherited even when you’re gone. Another Uzumaki carries your legacy, and nothing will stop me from aiding him to become the next Legendary Seal Artificer!_

* * *

 

The Results

“They’re here!” Naruto joyfully announced as the seal glowed brightly again.

“Well, go on, open it!” Jiraiya eagerly anticipated his godson’s results.

“Okay,” Naruto breathed in deeply before slowly unraveling the scroll.

“So, how’d you do?” Jiraiya asked on tenterhooks as the blonde stiffened.

“I…passed,” Naruto said in wonder. Originally, he’d been thinking the seal tests were super easy, but then Jiraiya had told him how hard it was for most geniuses to pass the intermediate level exit tests. He hadn’t believed him at first, but then he started thinking of all the ways he could’ve improved the seals and that what he did wasn’t good enough to pass. But it looks like he worried for nothing, he’d passed! He never passed anything with full marks in the academy! In fact, even when he had the right answers down, he still got marked down sometimes. Remembering this vaguely, the blonde had subconsciously been thinking that the same thing would happen with the sealing tests. Luckily, the sealing headquarters weren’t located anywhere near Konoha and therefore held no grudge against the Kyuubi container like the other village graders had. In fact, it was actually the opposite. Uzumaki were worshipped over there for their seals. There was no way that they’d purposefully fail an Uzumaki when sealing was practically in their blood. Even if they didn’t show favoritism to one test taker over another, it was almost guaranteed that an Uzumaki would always pass based on sheer talent alone.

Jiraiya’s eyes goggled in shock. He knew his godson was a genius, but this? To actually pass the intermediate level tests on his first try? And that, at 12? That was unheard of ever since the last Legendary Seal Artificer Ashina has passed the Master level exit tests at age 16! Now, it looked like Naruto was following in his footsteps. The blonde might even be able to set a new record at the rate he was going! “What comments did they make on your seals?” the Toad Sage asked curiously, wondering what that mess of a seal he’d seen earlier did.

“Let’s see… They wrote…” Naruto read off the comments.

_Your modification of the first seal was ingenious! We never thought to add the loop at the end of the seal to make the frying pans constantly reappear and bombard the ninja until they were unconscious. It was a great idea to have the seal link onto the ninja’s chakra supply, so it’d stop when the victim lost consciousness. Your added notes on how to make it so that the nature chakra in the environment to sustain it instead were also a marvelous idea!_

_The second seal modification was almost too complicated for us mere researchers to understand. Luckily, the guild master was here and he was able to decipher the improvements you implemented. At first, we thought you made a whole another seal, but then we noticed that the base of the seal matrix was the same, allowing the user to not only know if their secret was told but also to make the affected ninja act normally and subconsciously avoid telling others about the secret. The added protection features also make it next to impossible to remove unless you have the sealer’s permission. What we really liked about it was the fact the affected ninja had to give permission to the user before they were able to place the seal on them. This way, they’d only be able to be silenced if both of them agreed upon it beforehand, meaning it couldn’t be forced upon another ninja! That was really kind of you!_

_Finally, for your last seal, let me just say that we are in awe of how you came up with these changes. Originally, we also had the same idea to seal other poisonous gasses or paralytics into the seal, but we were always unable to have it last and keep its properties. We thought of using a storage seal, but that just made it unbalanced and forced a breakdown of the contents to occur, making it only work for a week at most. The way you did it was just too cool for words! I could never have thought of using a time-specific separate pocket dimension to store the gas, bypassing the fit issues altogether! The orange coloring was also a nice touch! Who knew that changing the angle of all the symbols a few degrees could actually make such a difference? I certainly didn’t! And, I’m going to stop writing now because the guild master is yelling at me. Anyways, congratulations! You are now an official Expert Level Seal Master! I would advise you to move on to the next test as you are more than ready!_

_Also, feel free to drop by headquarters sometime, we’re all looking forward to meeting our new addition! Just ask Jiraiya about where to find us._

_Expecting you soon, ~Seal Masters HQ’s Kenkyu Josha_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_Seal Theory (60/60)_

_Watch Your Steps! (10/10)_

_Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal (20/20)_

_The Winding Smoke Technique (10/10)_

_Overall: (100/100)_

Jiraiya’s jaw hung open as heard the comments. Just how did Naruto persuade the guild master to ask for a private meeting? He was sure that the old fart hated him ever since he started bombarding headquarters with test grading requests. _How did he convince the stubborn old Shiru Masuta to want to meet him in my company?_

 _Nice job! You should take the next test, little one._ Kurama almost purred in delight. He knew Naruto would pass! And it was so satisfying to see the old Toad fool’s face when he was shocked. _Humph, serves him right for ignoring my Kit for all those years!_ He mentally pushed away the guilt that still lingered from ignoring the blonde for the majority of his life and leaving him to be surrounded by the hatred of his village.

“Awesome! I’m starting the next test Ero-sennin!” Naruto announced and quickly opened the scroll again to see what it entailed.

_Welcome to the exit level tests of the Expert Level Seal Mastery. You have already been tested on your theory, but now you have to apply it to new heights and break your limits. We want you to create a new seal based on what you have learned so far! You may also submit a design you’ve already made in the past or take some time to think of a new one. Either way, the seal must be your own work and may not be a modified existing seal. Please take your time to creatively come up with a new design!_

_(When submitting make sure to only draw the condensed version so no one will know the entire formula of your seal. If it is valid it’ll be copyrighted under your name, so please also include a name no longer than four words for it.)_

Jiraiya snickered as he saw Naruto read the last part. The blonde may not know it, but those last instructions were actually put into place because of his parents. _Really, Spiraling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three? What on Earth was Minato thinking?_ The Toad Sage chuckled and shook his head at his past student’s antics. _Not that Kushina was much better… She actually wanted to call the Watch Your Steps! Seal the Attack of the Twin Flying Frying Pans of Doom! ...Naruto… You don’t know how lucky you are that your parents decided to name you off the character from my book. I heard what they’d come up with and…_ Jiraiya shuddered. _I know they both loved Ramen, something it looks like you inherited, but to name a boy Beni Togarashi Wakame Sansho Yuzukosho or a girl Tamago Chashu Nori Kamaboko Kakuni are just horrible ideas! Luckily, I got them to narrow it down to one food topping name. If they hadn’t taken a shining to my book, I might be looking at the next Menma Namikaze-Uzumaki right now… How weird would that be?_

Unaware of how close he’d been to being given an unbelievably long name, Naruto continued copying his seal down onto the scroll. He’d already memorized the seal he’d used on his bracelets, so he decided to use that for the next part of the exams. He’d been meaning to get it copyrighted under his clan name anyways. This would only speed up the process. Finishing off the last brush stroke of the condensed seal, he closed the scroll and waited for it to glow. Sure enough, it was glowing brightly a few minutes later. Hold in a in a breath, Naruto unfastened it and scanned what they wrote. “Yatta! I passed!” the blonde cheered, dancing around in a circle.

“E-Eh? Re-ally?” Jiraiya stuttered, stunned that the blonde was almost on par with him now. _All that hard work… And he easily breezed past me!_ The Toad Sage sunk down gloomily, his eyes overflowing with tears.

Mistaking the tears as tears of joy, Naruto nodded, “Yeah! I passed! I’m almost a Seal Master! They said that my communication seal was super useable and they gave me a copyright for it.” Naruto grinned before pouting as he remembered what else they’d said, “They didn’t like my first name for it because it was too boring. What’s wrong with Bracelet Seal? Sounds good enough for me… Anyways, they liked my second name for it: Communication Seal. Apparently, the seal was ‘unique’ and had none of the drawbacks of a ‘tel-e-phone,’ whatever that is… They liked that it worked over long distances and that there was no way to lose or break it due to the security and durability seals installed in the matrix making it only work for a person based on their chakra signature. One way to improve it would be to have it connect to only certain people instead of everyone who has one, but why would I want to do that? I’d much rather be together with everyone than alone in silence…” Naruto trailed off, remembering how alone he’d been before.

 _Don’t worry, you have me now. And I’m not going anywhere…_ Kurama soothed in his gravelly voice.

Jiraiya felt another pang of guilt run through him for not being there for his godson. At least he was here now and there was nothing that could keep him away anymore. Not even the threat of Danzo or the councilmen or Iwa could stop him now. Clearing his throat, he asked, “So, are you going to try to take the entry level test for Seal Mastery?”

“Mm, I think so,” Naruto absently unfurled the scroll, watching dazedly as the words appeared. This time the test was just a multiple choice styled test for advanced seal theory. He breezed through it and closed the seal, waiting for the good news.

_You are now a Seal Master! From now on the tests will become a lot more rigorous! The remaining tests are the Exit Level Test for Seal Masters, the Entry and Exit Level Tests for Legendary Seal Masters, and finally the Entry and Exit Level Tests for Seal Artificers, although there haven’t been one of those since the days of the Sandiame Uzukage Ashina Uzumaki! We hope to see you follow in his footsteps and continue your journey into the world of seals!_

_Unlike the other tests, the next test has a few more requirements than just passing the previous tests. To properly become a Seal Master, you must study the art of sealing as a Seal Master for at least six months and pass on what you’ve learned to at least one other student. You also must recreate an old lost seal from your research. The seal does not have to be complete, but it does have to have an in-depth dissertation on how to go about making it and theories on how to succeed in its creation. Please take the next six months and thoroughly research the seal you wish to recreate._

_We look forward to your next test, ~Sealing Headquarters._

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_Creativity (15/15)_

_Concept Creation (20/20)_

_Functionality & Ease of Use (25/25)_

_Seal Theory (40/40)_

_Overall: (100/100)_

_The badge included signifies your official rank as a Seal Master._

“Aw, man! I have to wait another six months before I move on!” Naruto pouted as he pinned the badge to his jumpsuit.

Jiraiya snorted at his impatience, “Do you even know which seal you’re going to recreate?”

“Ah…No, not really,” the blonde admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

“Hahaha,” Jiraiya laughed, seeing his expression. “Brat! If you go any further, there won’t be anything left for me to teach you! You’re almost past my level of mastery! In fact, I think you may have actually surpassed me!” Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully. _Maybe I should have him check out Orochimaru’s seal. He’s certainly more than qualified enough. And he’d probably have more luck trying to figure it out than I ever would… I’ll ask him about it after the Chunin Exams. I don’t want him getting distracted and neglecting his training with Orochimaru on the loose. Who knows what he’ll do to my cute little godson? I already heard that he licked and felt Naruto up in the Forest of Death! Who knows what he’ll do next!? No, there can’t be any distractions. I need to have him learn to access the Kyuubi’s chakra to keep him safe from all the perverts out there!_ Jiraiya decided, not recognizing the fact that he was the biggest pervert of them all.

 _Somehow, I feel Ero-sennin is thinking up some really weird thoughts…_ Naruto sweat-dropped as he heard the Toad Sage mutter about perverts. “So, Ero-sennin, what training are we going to do now since sealing is out for the next six months?” Naruto asked, snapping the Toad Sage out of his trance.

“Hmm, good question. Why don’t you head on home for now and we’ll pick up training again tomorrow? I’ll pick you up from your apartment in the morning,” Jiraiya suggested, as he noticed it getting late.

“Sounds good, Ero-sennin!” Naruto cheekily saluted and bounded away before Jiraiya could say anything.

“Brat!” The Toad Sage called out fondly as he watched the orange blur disappear over the hill. Tomorrow was going to be interesting…

* * *

 

The Next Morning

“So, Ero-sennin, what seal did you recreate for your test?” Naruto asked as he followed the Toad Sage deeper into the training grounds.

“I recreated the Time-Release Technique. But instead of making it explode on activation, I had it transport the victim away through the use of summons,” Jiraiya explained before stopping at an empty training ground.

“So cool!” Naruto’s eyes lighted up in delight at the thought of making a seal that went against its fundamental properties.

Jiraiya chuckled seeing how happy the blonde as. Ruffling his hair, he said, “Okay, today I’m going to teach you how to summon Toads!” Jiraiya posed, summoning the same toad from yesterday.

“Wow! So cool!” Naruto’s eyes widened.

“Listen up, Kiddo!” Jiraiya said as he dismissed the toad, and unfurled a huge scroll. “This here is the contract with the summoning toads. It’s been handed down through the generations. First, you sign your name with your own blood and then you make a fingerprint impression with all the fingers of one hand!” Naruto bit his finger and signed the contract as Jiraiya continued. “After that’s done, when you’re in a place where you want to call the toads, prepare your chakra and place the hand you signed the contract with, on the ground and make the following hand signs: Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Sheep.”

“Can I make handprints with both of my hands?” Naruto asked, looking up at Jiraiya with his clear blue eyes.

“…I don’t see why not,” Jiraiya finally said, inwardly thinking, _Damn! I should’ve thought of that! It so would’ve helped when Tsunade broke my hand and refused to heal it after I peeped on her that one time..._

“All right! That’s it?” Naruto asked once his small handprints were pressed into the scroll.

“Yeah! You should be able to summon a toad now pretty easily, so have a go at it. Remember to use _all_ the chakra you have in you,” Jiraiya stressed. He was going to ask if Naruto noticed that he had two chakras in him, but he wanted to see what the boy could do with his own first. The blonde had surprised him yesterday with his sealing prowess. And considering he already knew both the tree and water walking exercises along with some Wind techniques, Jiraiya couldn’t use those to exhaust his chakra supply. Besides, the boy had more than enough chakra to summon a toad, even though it’d be a very small one. _He’s probably going to summon a tadpole on his first try…_

“Ok, I’m on it!” Naruto grinned, reaching inside himself for his chakra, waking up Kurama.

 _Oy, Kit, what’re you doing?_ The fox yawned and sleepily asked the blonde.

_I’m trying out a new Jutsu that uses up a lot of chakra! Ero-sennin said the more the better!_

_Oh, in that case, why don’t you use some of mine too._ Kurama suggested, sending his own red chakra to meld with Naruto’s. As Naruto made the hand signs, the golden chakra enveloped the area, forcing Jiraiya to shut his eyes. “Kuchiyose no Jutsu!” Naruto cried out.

Once the light was gone, Jiraiya opened his eyes only to see that Naruto vanished! Scratching his head, the old Toad Sage wondered what had happened. _What went wrong? Did he get reverse summoned? But Gamabunta doesn’t usually do that to new summoners… Maybe he did it because Naruto was Minato’s son?_ Figuring he needed to actually go to Mount Myoboku to find out more, Jiraiya summoned a toad and told him to reverse summon him. He was going to get to the bottom of this and if he found out someone had _kidnapped_ his godson, they were in for a pounding of a lifetime!

* * *

 

Somewhere in the Sage Realm

“Ack! Where am I?” Naruto looked around him only to see a forest surrounding him.

Kurama lazily stared at the screen, only to widen his eyes when he realized he knew the surroundings. _Oi, Kit, go into the burrow behind you, I need to check something out._

 _Okay._ Naruto agreed and pushed away the stone blocking the entrance. Entering the den, he looked around only to see it was empty except for some dusty furniture and a painting hanging on the wall. Moving closer to the painting, Naruto was shocked when he saw a small Kurama standing next to a wrinkly old man with a red spiral in the middle of his forehead. “Who’s this?” Naruto asked, breaking the silence.

 _That’s…my father, the Sage of Six Paths… He painted this for me shortly before he di-left._ Kurama said in a quiet voice. _I-I…don’t think I’ll ever see him again as he has already entered the pure land, and I am a chakra construct and therefore immortal. Even if I ‘die,’ my body would just recreate itself a few years later. It…it was one of the reasons I allowed myself to be bound to you. A small part of me wanted to go to the pure land with you when you died to see my father again…_

Naruto could hear the sadness in Kurama’s voice. _We could always ask the Shinigami if we could see your dad._ The blonde suggested, wanting to let Kurama see his father without dying forever. He was startled to hear Kurama laugh out loud.

 _Yeah, that sounds like a plan._ Kurama agreed, mentally scolding himself for letting his Kit worry about him, when it should be the other way around. He had no doubts that the blonde wouldn’t do exactly as he said, and calling the Shinigami for anything was never a good idea, even if Naruto had already gotten permission to summon him without any real consequences. Putting aside his emotions, Kurama focused on the fact that they were actually at his home, which was strange considering the fact it was in the summoning realm. _Kit, what Jutsu were you attempting before we came here?_

 _I was trying to summon a toad,_ Naruto explained sheepishly.

 _Why on Earth would you want to summon a lowly amphibian when you have me, the most powerful of the tailed beasts?_ Kurama asked, more than a little jealous.

 _I can summon you? Aren’t you, like you know, trapped in my stomach?_ Naruto questioned doubtfully.

_Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still summon me… Probably… Anyways, come into your mindscape for a bit. I want you to sign something._

_Okay!_ Naruto agreed without hesitating, and signed the scroll Kurama gave him.

“There. Now, you signed _my_ contract, so you don’t have to sign any Toad Summoning Contracts...” Kurama smirked when he said the last few words.

“What?! But I already signed their contract! Isn’t it bad to have more than two summons?” Naruto panicked, thinking he was going to explode.

“Baka! You know about seals, what are you panicking for?” Kurama scolded the blonde who laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head, finally calming down. “Hmm, but I didn’t expect that you’d already signed the Toad’s Contract. Oh well, I’ll just have to have a little… _chat_ with them before we leave this place. If remember correctly, Mount Myoboku should just be over this hill… For now, why don’t you go back outside and try summoning me. Just use the same technique but say Kyuubi instead of Toads. Actually, say Kurama instead, that should make the contract even stronger.”

Naruto nodded and followed the nine-tailed fox’s directions. Drawing on both their chakras, Naruto called out, “Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Kurama!” successfully summoning the Kyuubi to the Sage realm.

“It seems like the chakra put into the technique was used to create a newly formed chakra construct that my consciousness may reside in.” Seeing Naruto looking confused, Kurama simplified what he said, “It means the time you can summon me for depends on how much chakra is put into the technique. When I dispel, I’ll go back to the seal.”

“Ohhh,” Naruto tilted his head digesting what Kurama said. “This is great! Now I can introduce you to Jiji and Kaka-sensei and Iruka-sensei and all my friends!” Naruto excitedly babbled.

Laughing, Kurama said, “We can plan that out later, Kit. For now, we need to go visit Mount Myoboku before my time runs out.” Wrapping a tail around the blonde, the Kyuubi placed him on his back, telling him to hold on tight.

Clutching the silky reddish-orange fur, Naruto whooped as Kurama jumped, carrying them across the forest to one of the peaks. Landing quietly, Kurama shapeshifted into a humanoid form, still carrying Naruto on his back, only this time in a piggyback. Naruto wrapped his arms around the demon’s neck and watched eagerly as they approached a waterfall surrounded by a bunch of towering toad statues. So entranced by them, he almost missed the gigantic toad standing with a smaller one in front of the waterfalls. “You! You’re the toad from my dreams!” Naruto exclaimed, pointing at the toads.

Blushing brightly, the smaller toad with a black stick said, “Wow! I haven’t had an admirer in years! I’m flattered, but I must tell you that I am happily married. So sorry to disappoint.”

“Not you! You!” Naruto gestured at the bigger toad. “You keep appearing in my dreams and telling me about the future! Though, you’re not very good at it…” Naruto muttered, remembering how some of the predictions didn’t come true while others did.

“…A mischievous boy with blue eyes…” the larger toad muttered, not listening to what Naruto had said. Snapping out of his trance, he said, “Eh? What did you say?”

“I said that I’ve been dreaming about you!” Naruto repeated loudly as Kurama watched this play out in deep amusement.

“Oh… I’m sorry, but you’re a little too young for me. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’d find one of your own species to be with,” the larger toad consoled.

A tick mark formed on Naruto’s forehead. “Not like that!” he practically yelled.

“It’s okay, I know rejection can be hard. There’s no need for denial,” the large toad said in an understanding tone.

“I said it’s not like that!” Naruto fumed. “I meant that you keep predicting the future in my dreams and saying that the pineapple-haired boy changed it and stuff!”

Waiting for a reply, Naruto stared at the larger toad who only looked at him and said, “Sorry, but who are you again?” Naruto fell over as the smaller toad repeated what had just happened. “Oh, right, _that pineapple-haired_ _boy._ The one who ruined all my predictions and forced change on the world…”

Naruto sweat-dropped at the description but forged on with his questions. “Yo, old Toad-dude is there a reason that you keep sending me those dreams?”

“Sending you them? No, _I_ did not _send_ them to you. Perhaps it’s a sign that we were meant to be together!”

“I’m not going out with you!” Naruto screamed, traumatized from the earlier misunderstandings.

“No, no, you’re too young for me,” the toad sage said as everyone face-palmed. _That’s the problem? Not the species?_ “I meant as Toad and Summoner!” he clarified.

“So, you want to be my main Toad Summons?” Naruto asked doubtfully. “Aren’t you too old to fight, Giant Toad Gramps?”

“Yes, as the boy said, Ojiji-sama. Won’t fighting be too hard for your old bones?” the smaller toad asked.

“Quiet, Fukasaku! I can still fight, in fact I was known for my prowess back in the times of the Sage! Boy, do you want to be my summoner?” the old Toad squinted down at Naruto.

“Sure, Deka-jii-chan!” Naruto chirped, happy that he had his own toad to summon.

Fukasaku stiffened in shock that the elderly toad had a summoner again. _I better go tell Bunta about this new development…_ He thought, and rushed away to find the Toad Chief before he could screw things up and inadvertently insult the new summoner.

Kurama stifled a snicker at the name Naruto dubbed the Great Toad Sage. Deciding to speak up, he said, “Ogama-sennin Gamamaru, the brat was my summoner first, so you’re just going to have to share him.”

“Who are you?” the great toad sage squinted at the red-haired man. Something about him looked familiar.

“I’m Kurama, the Sage’s son. You might remember me as the Kyuubi,” he grinned wickedly, showing off his pointed teeth. “Listen up, this here is my Kit, so you better treat him well, or else there’ll be consequences!” He glared at him threateningly. “He’s signed both our contracts, so I’m sure there’ll be no problems with that, right?” Kurama smiled sweetly again, promising retribution if the old Toad said no.

“Of course! The more the merrier! I better let Bunta know about this so he doesn’t throw a fit. Young ones nowadays,” Gamamaru shook his head helplessly at Kurama who nodded in sympathy. Young ones were very hard to guide nowadays. Just look at Naruto, he befriended the Shinigami despite Kurama’s efforts to steer him away from that idea.

“Our summoner likes to get into a lot of trouble too,” Kurama commiserated. “Do you have a human form to make it easier to talk to?”

“A human form? Hmm, I forgot, let me check…” Gamamaru focused on his nature chakra and shifted down into the form of a shaggy brown-haired middle-aged man, still wearing his professor’s hat and oil necklace. “I forgot I could do this,” he looked at his limbs, impressed and flexed his fingers, marveling at their dexterity.

“Woah, Deka-jii-chan, you look younger than Jiji!” Naruto stared at the brunette, wide-eyed.

“What about me?” Kurama interjected, feeling the need to establish his presence.

“Oh, were you jealous? Don’t worry, you look a lot younger than Jiji!” Naruto beamed and flashed him a thumbs-up.

“…” _That doesn’t really make me feel any better!_ Before he could reply, another large toad smoking a pipe came into the clearing.

“What’s this about a new summoner?” his voice boomed as he set his eyes on Naruto, not seeing Gamamaru or Kurama standing nearby. “Are you the new summoner?”

“Yeah! And Deka-jii-chan says he’s going to be my main summons!” Naruto happily replied.

“A personal summons? For you? You haven’t even exchanged Sake with me yet!” Gamabunta retorted.

“Why would I have to do that? Deka-jii-chan already said he’d be my summons! What do you have to do with anything?” Naruto asked in growing annoyance.

“What? Who do you think your talking too? How dare a stripling who can’t legally exchange sake cups declare that I, Lord Gamabunta, the Chief Toad have nothing to do with my subordinates! Surrender now and show some respect! Then I might just make you my henchman… Be grateful!”

Before Naruto could say anything, Gamamaru spoke up, “Bunta! How dare you threaten my summoner!”

“Hmm? Who are you?” Gamabunta glanced at the brunette.

Fukasaku, who showed up, smacked Gamabunta with his walking stick. “Idiot! Show some respect! That’s the Old Geezer—I mean, the Great and Honorable Toad Sage!”

“Right!” Gamamaru nodded at Fukasaku. “And that boy there is my summoner!” he proudly stated as Naruto blushed brightly at the possessive tone the toad spoke in.

“What? That scamp?” Gamabunta asked, taken aback.

“Yes, and he’s also _my_ summoner. So, you better show him the respect he deserves!” Kurama purred.

“Who are you? I don’t recognize you as one of my subordinates, that means you’re another summoning beast?! You allowed the boy to sign another contract? Were toads not good enough for him that he had to go and acquire another beast?” he sneered at Kurama.

“Close your croaker, tadpole!” Kurama growled at him.

“Why? What are you going to do about it?” Gamabunta challenged. Although he (reluctantly) accepted the blonde as he was Gamamaru’s summoner, he didn’t like the fact that he also had another summons. In his opinion, toads were more than enough!

Kurama bared his teeth at Gamabunta, before transforming back into his original form. “Recognize me?”

“Kyuubi,” Gamabunta whispered. “That means…” he stared at the blonde, connecting the dots.

“Right, he is Minato’s child,” Kurama confirmed as he wrapped his tails around Naruto protectively. “And more importantly, he’s _mine_.”

“R-Right,” Gamabunta nodded stiffly. There was no way he could fight against the Kyuubi and come out on top. With Gamamaru supporting him, he had no chance of winning. It looked like there’d be hell to pay if he upset the child summoner. Not to mention the fact that he was Minato’s son which already made him a part of the family. Clearing his throat, he changed the subject, “So, is he here to learn about the Sage arts?”

“That’s not a bad idea…” Gamamaru said, looking at Kurama. “Is there a special way for you to learn how to access nature chakra?”

“No,” Kurama shook his head. “I don’t use Sage chakra. Feel free to teach him your way of using it…”

Gamabunta watched them discuss with each other and hesitantly spoke up. “Alright… I’ve still got some paperwork to do. So… I’mgoingtoleavenow. Bye!” He said and hurriedly left the place. No way was he sticking around when one slip might land him in a world of pain. He’d have to be very careful with how he treated the blonde from now on…

Fukasaku watched as Gamabunta left and sighed. If only he’d learn how to control his temper, then he wouldn’t keep getting himself into situations like these… But to think that the blonde was actually Minato’s boy, how exciting!

Kurama brought the tail wrapped around Naruto up to his face and said. “Ok, Naruto, while we wait for Jiraiya, why don’t you practice sensing nature chakra. Fukasaku will advise you while we watch.” Seeing Naruto nod his head in agreement, Kurama set the blonde down right next to Fukasaku.

* * *

 

By now, Jiraiya was panicking. He’d already searched all the surroundings of Mount Myoboku after following Naruto’s trail there, when it vanished in thin air. Almost as if he teleported away from the clearing he’d been standing in. (Or had a Biju jump while carrying him, but Jiraiya didn’t know that…) Figuring the blonde had went back to the real world, he had also checked all of Konoha, only to find nothing. Going back to the Sage realm, he made his way to find Gamamaru. Perhaps the old geezer might be able to foretell where Naruto had disappeared off to. After asking the other toads to point him in the direction of the Great Toad Sage, Jiraiya walked to the training grounds, only to have his mouth drop open in shock, seeing Naruto balance on a wooden board on the peak of the spiked cavern with orange circles around his closed eyes.

“Wha—How, wait what?!” Jiraiya sputtered, watching Naruto open his _orange_ eyes. “You know Sage Mode?!”

“What? No, of course not! Don’t be stupid Jiraiya-chan, Sage Mode would be too harsh on his body right now,” Fukasaku admonished him.

“But orange eyes!” Jiraiya pointed at Naruto, deeply flabbergasted.

“Tsk, tsk, Jiraiya-chan, I think we need to up your training if you don’t know what’s going on here. Or maybe I should lecture you over dinner, my wife is making a delicious bug stew today!” Fukasaku continued, not noticing Jiraiya’s face turning green.

“Ah, no that’s okay… Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on here?” Jiraiya suggested, changing the subject.

Gamamaru decided to answer him this time, “Jiraiya-boy, I shared some of my own nature chakra with Naruto-boy to help him sense it better. This way’s a lot less stressful on the body than using toad oil to enhance his senses, although it is a lot slower… The orange circles around his eyes are from the Sage chakra in his system. They’ll go away in a few minutes when my chakra dissipates.”

Jiraiya nodded dumbfoundedly. _Damn, does this mean if I was younger, than I wouldn’t have had to go through that hellish stick-and-oil training method?_

As if understanding what he was thinking, Fukasaku took out his black stick and whacked Jiraiya over the head.

“Ow! What was that for?” the old pervert groaned, rubbing the bump on his head.

“…I had the feeling that you weren’t respecting your elders,” Fukasaku replied with a glint in his eyes, enjoying that he got to whack someone today with his trusty stick. The old geezer wouldn’t let him hit his summoner even when he was distracted. With Gamamaru’s control over nature chakra, he could easily stop it from turning Naruto into a frog statue without having to resort to beating it out of him, making Fukasaku feel useless. Luckily, Jiraiya came along, so he was still able to hit someone today. Now, if only Bunta would come by too. He was sure he’d be able to whack the Toad Chief for some perceived disrespect. It was easy to see that Bunta had no idea how to act around the little blonde without feeling the need to pressure him to obey him. But as he was the Great Toad Sage’s summoner, he actually ranked above Bunta, leaving them both in an awkward place. Hopefully, the Toad Chief would learn to get along with him like he did with his father Minato. _But not too soon, I still want to whack him a few times round the head with my stick. It’s been getting a little too quiet around here recently. Maybe this brat would change things up…_

“So, how much longer do you guys think you’ll take?” Jiraiya hedged, wondering if he could still follow through with his plans of having Naruto unlock the Kyuubi’s chakra today.

“Hmm, he’s taken to it better than you have, so it’ll probably take a week at most. We also want to teach him the basics of Frog Kumite. Like the moves he can do without being a Sage, so he’ll be ready for it later on,” Fukasaku explained.

“Alright,” Jiraiya sighed, running his hand through his hair. It looked like he was going to be stuck here for a while… Oh well, at least this way, he can get a head start on the new book he was writing! _Let’s have Akemi-chan meet Tora-kun for a night out when he mysteriously gets summoned away by an elder spirit... Who turns out to be a beautiful goddess! Hehehe,_ He started giggling perversely, making Fukasaku smack him again. “Oww…” he groaned as the Toad Elder smirked. This was going to be so much fun!

The next few days passed by as Naruto trained and Jiraiya wrote, both too lost in their own worlds to care about the outside world. It was for this reason, that when they went back to Konoha, the irate Sandiame dragged Jiraiya back to his office by the ear and proceeded to lecture him about leaving a notification behind telling him that he had gone for training. Jiraiya sheepishly promised not to do it again and showed Hiruzen the manuscript of his next novel in apology. By the time their meeting was finished, both of them were dazed and giggling as blood dripped form their noses. Seeing this sight, Naruto slowly closed the door and left the building, not wanting to know what they were discussing. The two powerful ninja’s giggles could be heard from the hallway, leading to the foreign delegates staying at the Hokage Tower to wonder if the place was haunted by a couple of perverted ghosts. No one dared to enter their showers that night…

* * *

 

Leaving the Hokage Tower, Naruto bumped into a purple-haired kunoichi. “Hey! Watch were you’re—Blondie? What are you doing here?” Anko asked as she helped Naruto up off the ground. They’d been meeting regularly, at least once a week, ever since that fateful meeting.

“My teacher for the exams is having a ‘meeting’ with Jiji,” Naruto admitted, brushing the dirt off his orange jumpsuit. “What about you? What’re you doing here?”

“I got a new mission!” Noticing his wistful look and drooping shoulders, Anko blurted out, “Want to come with me? It’s only a C-rank, so I shouldn’t be too hard…”

“Really?” Naruto perked up.

“Yeah, I needed another genin anyways!” Anko nodded her head.

Fisting the air in joy, he said “Awesome! What’s the mission about?”

“It’s an intelligence gathering mission. I was picked for it due to my skills at Tea Ceremony. See, the kunoichi at the academy learn tea ceremony and flower language for reconnaissance missions. Usually, the best places to get information about the wealthy are at tea houses where the secret messages are written in flower language. The only problem with this mission is that no boys are allowed in the tea house, so you’re going to need a disguise,” Anko said, eyeing Naruto up. With the right type of clothes, she was sure she could pass him off as a girl…probably…

“Oh, that’s easy! I’ll just use my Orioke no Jutsu!” Naruto grinned and made the hand signs for his jutsu, transforming into a girl version of him minus the whisker marks. “Does this work?” Naruto asked, looking up at Anko with his still sky-blue eyes.

“You still look too much like yourself. Make yourself taller with black hair and green eyes. Make your breasts bigger too,” Anko commanded as Naruto complied. “Change your jumpsuit into a frilly black dress—No wait, make it a maid’s outfit! Perfect!” Anko grinned, already having forgotten the original purpose of this and instead acting as a little girl playing dress-up with a doll would. Only, in this case, the doll being a lot more life-sized than usual.

“Are you sure about this?” Naruto asked, feeling slightly self-conscious. Although he was used to pulling pranks with his jutsu, they were only for short amounts of time. He didn’t know how long he could actually act like a girl for without messing up. Plus, it was weird to not wear a jumpsuit. He’d rather be naked than wearing one of these uncomfortable tight maid outfits. Tugging the skirt down, he stared at Anko pleadingly, hoping she’d let him wear his jumpsuit.

“Yep! It’s perfect, Blondie! There’s no way they’d find out you’re not a girl,” Anko reassured him, mistaking his look for nervousness. “Come on, you can tell me how far you’ve gotten on my seal while we walk,” she said, dragging him along with her.

* * *

 

“…and I got my Sealing Mastery, so legally I can try out the new seal I made on you. I just need to tweak it a little so it doesn’t overload your system with chakra when I release it. It’ll take about a week before I’m done,” Naruto finished his explanation.

“Oooh! Yes, I can finally get rid of this thing!” Anko beamed at Naruto, overjoyed as they stopped right in front of the tea house on Konoha Tea Avenue. “I can’t wait for next week, but for now we should focus on our mission,” she dropped her voice, making sure no one could overhear them. Striding through the doors as if she worked there, she greeted the owner, “Chamise! You in today?”

“Anko-san, what a pleasure to see you today. How may I help you? It’s not your day to work, correct?” an elderly petite woman with smile lines on her face welcomed them in. She was wearing a vivid red kimono that swayed as she walked, almost making it look like she was on fire. Naruto pouted when he saw that everyone else was wearing kimonos. _Why do I have to wear this stupid thing instead?_

“I took in a new apprentice, I want to teach her the correct way to conduct a Tea Ceremony in the proper settings. Will you be able to open up a private room for us?” Anko asked as she led Naruto to the back.

“Of course,” Chamise agreed, unlocking a room for them. “Oh, my! Your student is too cute! Are you sure you don’t want to give this one to me? I’ll have her become a master at tea ceremony in no time!” She winked at Anko as Naruto flushed. _He wasn’t cute!_ The blonde thought indignantly before belatedly remembering he was a girl right now.

“Haha, sorry, no can do, old friend! This one is going to be trained _specially_ by me,” Anko grinned at Chamise, who just raised one of her elegant eyebrows at her.

“I see. That’s too bad. I’ll leave you to your training,” she got up, bowed, and then exited the room.

The moment the door closed, Anko locked it and activated the privacy seals she took out. “There, that should make sure no spies get our information,” Anko wiped the sweat off her brow and settled down next to Naruto. “Oy, Blondie, there should be a small groove in the wall over there,” she said pointing towards it.

“This?” Naruto asked as he felt a small leaf actually engraved in the wall, blending in with the wallpaper. If he hadn’t been looking for it, he wasn’t sure he would’ve found it.

“Yep, that’s the one,” Anko confirmed. “Put in some chakra in it to activate it.” Naruto followed her directions, and was amazed to see the wall in front of them become transparent, allowing them to see into the tea house. Seeing the blonde’s jaw drop open, Anko smirked. “These seals were made to be a replacement to the Hyuuga’s Byakugan. The only problem with it was that they didn’t allow us to see through objects that had chakra in them, meaning they don’t work on people.”

“Wouldn’t perverts use this seal to see through the walls?” Naruto asked, thinking of Jiraiya and how much he’d like this seal.

Anko laughed, “Nah, you’d think so, but it turns out that most of the buildings here are actually made with chakra fortified materials, meaning the seal can’t work on them either. This place was specifically built for this purpose. The waitresses and owners are all ‘retired’ ninja, that now work for the information department. Why else would we waste our time on tea and flowers in the academy?”

“I always thought it was to help with chakra control and was a type of meditation or something,” Naruto scratched the back of his head as he tried to remember what the shadow clone attending the class had heard his teacher say about the purpose of the class.

Snorting, Anko responded, “They only tell that to the kids at the academy, so no one leaks it if they don’t become a genin. Only once you’ve retired after many years of service do you find out about it.”

“Should you be telling this to me then?” Naruto asked, sweat-dropping when he heard Anko’s reply.

“Ah, probably not…” Anko admitted, still grinning. “But I don’t really care. It’s not like you’re going to defect from our village anyways when you want to become the Hokage. Besides, I believe in you.” She patted his head, before turning back to the tea shop to decode the messages hidden in the flower arrangements.

A warm feeling fluttered its way through Naruto. He felt…something he couldn’t put into words. Anko only knew him for about a month and she already trusted him, which was more than he could say about almost everyone in his life. Actually, other than Kaka-sensei and Jiji (who knew him since he was a baby, so they had to trust him), Teuchi and Ayame (who’d gotten to know him after he started showing up ever since that one free bowl of Ramen), and Sai and Karin (who both were orphans and joined his clan in hopes of a family), it took at least a few _years_ before anyone from Konoha trusted him enough to be his friend. Heck, some of the villagers _still_ hated him. And that hurt. A lot. To be despised and shunned, to be watched warily as if he were a criminal… It hurt to see the village he loved so much treat him this way. There were times where he’d questioned himself, asked if it was worth it to try to prove himself to everyone, to show that he could become a strong ninja that could protect and that he wasn’t the demon they made him out to be. But then, he’d remember hearing his Jiji talking about how he loved the village, how it was his family that he’d do anything to protect. He wanted that. A family to cherish that he could protect with all his strength. Even if he was scorned and ignored, he’d smile because he knew that once he proved himself, they could no longer hate him. Only then would he get the family he wished for. So, it was really strange to receive unconditional support without trying to prove himself for once. Maybe it helped that they both were outcasts to Konoha (he’d seen Anko get the same stares he got from the civilians, though on a smaller scale). Maybe it was this bond that let her trust him when he hadn’t done anything in return. Maybe… this is how it felt like to be accepted…

Anko, on the other hand, didn’t think about her words too deeply. Yeah, she was telling the blonde a village secret and all, but he was trustworthy in her opinion. He’d impressed her with his seal work and she knew he was something special. Not for the fact that he was a Jinchuuriki, but rather because she saw him put up with those shitty civilians and still have the energy to smile back at them. And she knew how hard that was with her own experiences. If she hadn’t had Kurenai and the other Jounin in her year, she didn’t think she would’ve survived this long. But this kid, he had no one (the Hokage didn’t count, because even though the kid called him Jiji, there was no way the Sandiame could actually be free enough to take care of him with all his work) and yet, he never once gave up. He was all alone in that small apartment he’d grown up in, and from what she’d heard, he’d only recently made friends with the genin that graduated from the academy this year. With no support, no reassurances, and barely any love or affection, anyone would’ve been tempted to get revenge or just give up, but the blonde just took it all in stride, vowing to never give up. She was sure he’d sway the villagers eventually and take up the mantle as Hokage. She couldn’t wait to see that day come.

“Mm, I’m almost done. Were you able to decode any of them?” Anko asked, looking over at the paper Naruto was writing on.

“Yeah, I know a little about the flower’s meanings and stuff,” he nodded, showing her the messages, he’d decoded. “The easiest one was the message for Oto in the musical notes vase with the Orange Lily. I mean, considering Orochimaru has something to so with Oto, hatred and revenge made a lot of sense. The hardest was the glass vase because I couldn’t figure out which village it was talking about, but then I realized that glass was made from hot sand. But I still don’t see what the yellow roses and primroses meaning jealousy and desperation have to do with Sand.”

“Hmm, I think it’s a warning saying that Oto and Sand might’ve teamed up for an attack because Sand was jealous and desperate that all their jobs kept going to Konoha. Orochimaru must’ve used that and teamed up with them to get revenge on Konoha…” Anko hypothesized, lazily looking over the kid’s work.

“I guess that makes sense…” Naruto agreed after pondering it over. “So, are we done here then?” he asked, seeing her start to pack up her stuff.

“Yeah, I’ve already written down all the messages, so we’re good to go,” she flashed a thumbs-up at him. “Nice work, kid! Your decoded messages were pretty much spot on. Just make sure to not mix up the Anemone and the Gardenia. I know they look similar but one means sincerity and the other means secret love. It’d be bad to find out that someone who we thought to be an ally turned out to have a secret alliance behind our backs, like it looks like Sand is doing with Oto.”

“Yes, Anko-sensei!” Naruto saluted her, as they began to leave the shop. Waving goodbye to Chamise, the blonde asked the question that’d been bothering him all along. “Hey, Anko-sensei, I’m still confused. Why did I have to wear this maid’s outfit if we were going to a traditional tea shop?”

“Well, you see…About that…” Anko sweated nervously. _I can’t just tell him that I wanted him to wear it because it looked cute._ Quickly racking her brains for an excuse, she said, “Hey, look, a distraction!”

“What?! There’s nothing…there…” By the time the blonde realized what she’d said, she was already gone. _Don’t tell me I suffered for nothing!_ Naruto raged, a tick-mark forming on his forehead as he marched down the street to the Hokage Tower, hoping Ero-sennin was finally done with his ‘meeting,’ not noticing the stares he was getting due to his outfit. As Naruto entered the Hokage Tower, history repeated itself and he was bumped into and knocked over again. Only this time it wasn’t by a purple-haired kunoichi with a love for Dango. No, this time, it was by an old spiky white-haired pervert.

“Hey! Watch where you’re go—Well, hello there, pretty lady,” Jiraiya greeted suavely, reaching out a hand to pull up the hot babe in the maid’s outfit. “It’s nice to meet you, we should get to know each other better,” he waggled his eyebrows at her, as the girl just stared up at him with her jaw-dropped open. Naruto wanted to look away but was oddly compelled to watch the ongoing train wreck that was his Godfather f-f-flirting with him. “And I, the gallant Jiraiya, the world’s most renown Super Pervert that ever lived, will take you on a most fabulous journey to the reaches of the stars above!” He posed with his usual, one-foot three-hops signature look.

“Gross, Ero-sennin, I thought you had better sensing skills than that!” Naruto deadpanned as he transformed back into himself. “I’m going to tell Grandpa Sage that you’ve been slacking on your personal training!”

Jiraiya, who was still shocked by what had happened before him, snapped out of his statuesque state when he heard this. “Wait! No, you can’t tell him! He’ll make me do—shudder—supplementary training!” he pleaded, throwing himself at Naruto’s legs, wrapping his arms around them and not letting go.

“Ack! Let go, Ero-sennin!” Naruto flailed his hands as he tried to get out of Jiraiya’s grip, which only tightened.

“No! Not until you promise not to tell him!” he refused with a desperate glint in his eyes.

“Ok! Alright already!” Naruto gave in as Jiraiya let go in relief. Naruto rubbed his legs, he’d only been teasing anyways. He wouldn’t have actually ratted out Jiraiya to the Toad Elder, no matter how annoying he was. He’d seen that so-called ‘supplementary-training’ and was so glad he didn’t have to suffer its horrors. _Eating those bug snacks while getting smacked over the head with that stick, how terrible!_ Shuddering, he pushed away those memories and refocused on Jiraiya. “But, you have to do me one favor!” the blonde held up a finger, signifying his declaration.

Scrutinizing Naruto for any signs of deceitfulness, Jiraiya eventually agreed when he found none. “Okay, what do you want?” he asked, figuring the kid would want a new Jutsu or training technique.

“I want you to…havedinnerwithme,” Naruto spoke in a rush. Jiraiya just raised an eyebrow at him, not understanding what the blonde had said. Taking in a deep breath, Naruto spoke slower this time, “I said, that I wanted to have… dinner with you. At my apartment.” Seeing Jiraiya was still unresponsive, he hesitantly backtracked, “Um, never mind, you don’t have to—”

“What? No! I’ll come!” Jiraiya hurriedly reassured. He’d just been surprised that the blonde had wanted him over, as he’d thought Naruto disliked him. The nickname Ero-sennin only further validated that impression. But it seems, he was mistaken. The blonde must like him if the deep flush that stained his cheeks was anything to go by.

“Really? Awesome!” Naruto grinned at Jiraiya, his face still bright red. It was his first time inviting _anyone_ over to his house for dinner, and them accepting it. He’d asked Sakura before, back when he’d thought he’d loved her, but she’d refused. And Kakashi-sensei invited himself over for dinner, so no asking on his part necessary… Lately, dinner had been feeling lonely. Sai was busy (stalking Danzo) so his apartment felt a little more empty than usual. On the spur of the moment, he’d invited his godfather over for dinner and he had accepted! This was going to be great!

The two made their way to Naruto’s apartment where they spent the night away, getting to know each other better. Telling jokes and stories until they could no longer keep their eyes open. In the end, even Kurama was impressed with the Toad Sage and told Naruto that he approved even if he was a ‘pervert that consorted with amphibians.’ This was the first, but not last, time that the two bonded, becoming closer as godfather and godson until the lines blurred and they were a father-son pair that were so tightly bound, no one could see they weren’t related. It got to the point where Bingo Books listed Naruto as the son of Toad Sage, and when it got out that he was actually the Yondiame’s son, even Iwa had trouble believing it despite their close resemblance. When Jiraiya eventually rose to the pure world, he’d be greeted by the tearful face of his disciple accusing him of ‘stealing’ his son. In the end, Jiraiya never denied the accusations, even when a vengeful red-haired woman chased him down for corrupting her Naru-chan. Because it was true, he thought of Naruto as the son he’d never had and the blonde looked up to him as his surrogate father. They might not be related by blood, but the only bonds family needed were ones of love. But this happened much, much later, so we should be getting back to the original story.

* * *

 

Week (2/4) - Uzumaki Clan vs. The Council Elders

“And last but not least, will the Hyuuga Clan notify us of any new developments they feel will or could affect the village?” Koharu spoke in a monotone tone of voice. She was so bored of these meetings. I mean, did they really need to know about upcoming births or complaints about something inconsequential like how much of their mission’s funds are going back to the village?

“Thank you, Utatane-san,” Hiashi nodded at her. “We have recently forbidden the use of the Caged Bird Seal on our branch clan.”

“What?!” Koharu nearly spit out her drink in shock. The traditions-are-everything Hyuuga Clan actually got rid of their seal? _…Am I still dreaming?_

Likewise, Danzo was also shocked. No one had reported this to him! Now what was protecting the Hyuuga’s eyes? _Hmm, maybe this isn’t such a bad thing after all Perhaps I can interest them in use of my…special seals. …_ Danzo thought, already forgetting that his Root ANBU hadn’t learned of this beforehand.

“You cannot get rid of it! What will stop other villages from taking your eyes?” Homura asked in agitation.

“You forget your place, Mitokado-san,” Hiashi narrowed his eyes at the elder. “ _You_ have no control over whether or not my clan uses a seal on our eyes.”

“I do if it is a security risk to the village! I say we put the seal on everyone. Look at what happened to the Uchiha! If you aren’t careful then the same thing might happen to—”

“Homura, enough!” Hiruzen warned, fiercely glaring at him to shut up. The less people knew about the Uchiha disaster, the better in his opinion.

“If you had let me continue, you would find out that we have already implemented a new seal to prevent eye theft,” Hiashi dryly commented, his earlier anger settled when he saw the Hokage scold Homura like an errant toddler.

“How can we know this seal is trustworthy?” Koharu asked, verbally stating the doubts everyone had on mind.

“The seal was described in our clan history books and was certified and placed by a Konoha seal master,” Hiashi deliberately left out the fact that it was a twelve-year-old who was doing it and not the Toad Sage. Everyone relaxed once more (except Shikaku who just stared at Hiashi with a knowing look in his eyes), and waited for him to continue explaining. “I will not say much about the seal, but every member of the Hyuuga Clan has it now, not just the branch clan. Also, the detailed _punishments_ are very painful, ranging anywhere from full-body electrocution to the disintegration of all your tendons. We had an unlucky foreign delegate who witnessed this first hand.” Many of the people in the room shuddered as they remembered the report of the missing-nin who had been found on the Hyuuga Clan grounds with all his bones and organs liquefied. If that was a sample of the seal’s effects, there was no way they ever wanted to try and find out.

“Moving on to requests put forth by clan heads. There is only one on the agenda here today. Uzumaki, please state your request.”

Naruto, who had been zoning out, stood up and said, “I want to…” He looked at Sakura, who discretely showed him what he had to say. “I formally request permission to re-establish the Uzumaki Clan Compound. As a finalist in the Chunin Exams and my previous achievements, I believe I have the right to re-open it,” he finished reading and sat back down.

There was silence for a moment before everyone exploded. “What Clan Compound?” “That’s unfair!” “The dem—brat is only a genin, he can’t do that!” The last person was glared at by almost everyone in the room. The man who’d said it shrunk down in his chair. He was only substituting for his Clan Head as he was sick. He didn’t get what the big deal was about calling the demon-brat a demon. Everyone knew he was one anyways…

“Silence!” the Hokage commanded, making everyone stop talking. Rubbing his forehead, Hiruzen sighed and followed the proper protocols for this type of thing. He knew if he didn’t the elders might take it away from Naruto on grounds of him being unfairly biased towards the blonde. “As this has to do with the redistribution of a Clan Compound, only the council elders and the Hokage have any right to question his right. Are there any objections from the council elders? Anyone may respond to these refutations.”

“Hokage-sama, in all due respect, Uzumaki is only twelve-years-old. Although he has taken over as Clan Head, he does not know enough to manage a Clan Compound. I suggest we wait until he is older before we reopen this issue,” Homura spoke up.

“Objection, honorable elder,” Sakura defended Naruto. She was ready for anything they could throw at her and had spent the last few days reading up on everything she could find that had anything to do with the law. “Naruto is a genin, meaning he is an adult and therefore should be treated as such despite his age. Also, Sasuke Uchiha has been managing his Clan Compound ever since the massacre with little to no formal training as his brother was expected to take over. If an academy student could do that, there is no reason a genin could not, especially considering the fact that they are both at the same rank and are teammates.”

Homura scowled as his refutation was discredited, before lightening up as he thought of another one. “Haruno-san, you stated that the Uzumaki was merely a genin. While the management of a clan compound only requires one to be an academy student, the re-opening or establishment of one requires one to be a Chunin, which the Uzumaki is not.” He smirked at the pink-haired girl, sure that he had derailed her arguments.

Sakura calmly looked him in the eye, not backing down. “That may be true, but only so for Clans that are part of the Konoha. The Uzumaki Clan is officially listed as its own separate entity as it hails from Uzushio rather than Konoha. As such, it falls under its own special laws which state that one must be of genin rank or higher to manage, re-open, or re-establish the Clan Compound situated in Konoha.” Sakura’s eyes glinted as she repeated the law. She just knew they were going to raise this point!

Homura opened his mouth, only to close it as he realized he had nothing to say to that. Utatane remained silent as she couldn’t think of anything to raise as an argument. The Uzumaki Clan already surpassed the three-or-more-person requirement and Naruto was a genin, so there was nothing that could stop him now. “Any other objections? Homura? Mitokado?” Hiruzen asked as they both shook their heads no. “Alright, then Naruto you may—”

“May I raise a point that was overlooked Hokage-sama?” Danzo asked. Hiruzen didn’t want to agree as Danzo technically wasn’t an elder, but he knew if he did, it’d only come back to bite him in the butt later. Seeing Hiruzen reluctantly nod, Danzo continued, “Although Uzumaki-san passes the requirements for re-establishing his Clan Compound, where will he place it? The previous compound has already been written over to someone else, and there is no more room in Konoha for a new Clan Compound to be built.”

Hiruzen sighed in relief. This objection, he could easily answer. “That is a non-issue in this case,” he grinned at Danzo’s sharp look at him. “The previous Clan Compound was indeed put under the Yondiame’s name as there were no more Uzumaki left in Konoha (after he married Kushina), but he stated in his will that the Compound should be given to the remaining Uzumaki (Kushina and Naruto) in the case of his demise.” With this, even Danzo had to remain silent as he couldn’t go against the Yondiame’s will. Looking at the crowd, Hiruzen said, “Then it’s settled. The previous Clan Compound will be handed over to Naruto to do as he sees fit. As there is nothing else on the agenda for today, I declare this meeting over. Make sure to remain courteous to the foreign delegates in the village, I will see you all at the next meeting.” Everyone filed out of the room until only Naruto, Sakura, and Hiruzen were left over.

Noticing them, Hiruzen walked over and said, “Naruto, Sakura, what can I do for you today?”

“Jiji! I met another Uzumaki named Karin, but she’s from Kusagakure but they don’t treat her right there so she wants to join Konoha instead!” Naruto spoke in a rush, the words just falling out of his mouth.

“Hmm, she’s from Kusagakure?” the Hokage frowned and stroked his beard. “But you said she was an Uzumaki?” Naruto nodded and Hiruzen brightened up. “Then it’s not a big deal. Just have her send a letter to her jounin-sensei saying that her Clan Head told her to stay in Konoha. They can’t do anything as any Uzumaki, is by default, from Uzushio rather than the village they’re staying in. It’s why many chose to remain nomads, wandering across the nations rather than tying themselves down to one village,” he lectured, going into his mode of his namesake The Professor.

“So, she can stay here?” Naruto asked, the cogs still churning in his brain, trying to make sense of what his Jiji had just said.

Hiruzen chuckled, “Yes, she can stay here.” He ruffled Naruto’s head and smiled as he saw the blonde beaming at him before he left with his teammate. Hiruzen watched them leave, happy to see that Naruto was finally getting what he’d always wanted: a family.

* * *

 

Kakashi’s Attempts at Training

 _Okay, remember, this is all for my cute little genin._ Kakashi thought, taking in a deep breath to bolster himself. He’d left Sasuke training on the cliff with his shadow clone to make time for this. Squatting on a tree, he sharply stared at his target, waiting for the door to open. _There!_ Kakashi jumped down from the tree, about to attack when a rope shot out of the forest towards him. Flipping to the side to dodge it, Kakashi sighed in relief as he saw it go wide. _Must’ve been a fan-girl who was behind it this time…_ Last time, it had been a hunter-nin that trapped him and reeled him into the forest. Luckily, she’d only wanted a dance so he obliged and went on his merry way. Not that anyone had believed his excuse that he’d met a ‘pretty girl in the forest, and she wanted to dance… So, we did.’

Straightening up again, Kakashi cursed as he noticed that his mark had already left the building. Hopping to the next tree, Kakashi followed the path his target had taken when he saw a black cat sitting on the next branch. Seeing the red ribbon on the cat’s right ear, Kakashi gulped and decided to take the long way around the village. The last time he’d seen Tora, his owner Madame Shijimi had forced—ahem—asked him to help get him back after the last genin squad had somehow drenched the cat in black paint. Nowadays, no matter how long it took, Kakashi always took the opposite route from the cat to get to wherever he needed to go. It was a much better alternative to helping capture that demon-cat again. Plus, he liked the excuse of ‘I came across a black cat, so I took a detour around the village’ than ‘I had to help an old lady find her cat.’

Changing directions, Kakashi decided that he wouldn’t risk cutting through the shopping district to chase after his target. Although it shortened the journey by about ten minutes, it wasn’t worth the chance that he might run into an old lady that conveniently dropped her grocery bags when she saw him. The masked-jounin had a sneaking suspicion that most of those ‘old-ladies’ were actually fan-girls in disguise, trying to see under his mask. It didn’t help that most of them used Henge to conceal themselves, making it blatantly obvious for any ninja to tell, not that he could actually do anything to stop helping them. If he avoided too many of their attempts, the fan-girls would just stalk him around the village, never giving him a moment of peace. It was better to indulge them every now and then, than having them follow him everywhere. After all, helping them with their groceries was much a better alternative to being chased around town by them like Sasuke’s fan-girls did to him.

Deciding to take the underground tunnel systems instead, Kakashi ducked into the passageway and eyed the two identical paths, trying to tell them apart. Relying on his gut, he went with the right entrance, only to realize half-way through that he’d taken the wrong one. Suppressing a groan, he back-tracked and took the other tunnel this time, wasting another fifteen minutes. He could never get the hang of where each tunnel led to. The Yondiame had made all of them look exactly the same, so enemy-nin wouldn’t be able to traverse them. This backfired as no one could tell them apart, leading to almost no one using them anymore. The only reason he still kept using them was to have some familiarity with them as Naruto liked to hide out in them a lot whenever he was younger. Although the blonde didn’t use them as much anymore, the retired ANBU was still used to using them by now and refused to let the tunnels confuse him any longer. Despite his experience with them, he still got lost whenever he used them. The seals that layered the tunnels with the Sly Mind Affect Technique didn’t really help matters either… Finally reaching his destination, Kakashi exited the tunnels and approached the spot he’d told the target to come to if he didn’t see him during the day. Judging by the sky, he must’ve been waiting there for at least an hour.

 _Not bad, I’m only an hour late!_ Kakashi rejoiced, opening his mouth to explain, “Sorry, I’m late. I was lost of the Road of Life.” He scratched his head sheepishly. It was embarrassing for an ex-ANBU like him to get lost in the Routes Officially Added Downstairs Only For Locally Informed Fellow Experts. Minato-sensei really liked using long names for things… The ANBU nowadays, referred to it as the Road of Life, which in Kakashi’s opinion, was a brilliant way to mess with people’s minds. (He always did forget that none of the other ninja in Konoha except for the ANBU and Hokage knew about the tunnel system, leading to a number of Jounin and Chunin to think he was purposefully late. They never did understand why the Hokage never reprimanded his tardiness and only gave him an understanding look in return. He, himself, had gotten lost in those tunnels for over two days. An hour or two late really wasn’t that mush in comparison…)

“That’s alright!” The green spandex glinted in the light, as his target gave him a thumbs-up. “I’d always wait for my eternal rival! How youthful of you to issue a challenge! I can’t wait to beat you with the power of youth!”

“This is _not_ a challenge,” Kakashi stressed. “This is a _spar_ , not a challenge,” he felt the need to repeat it. Although he had asked Gai to help him train, there was no way he was going to fall to his level and get entrapped in his _challenges._ Gai pouted, which just further convinced Kakashi that he would never ever issue a challenge to the bowl-haired man, no matter how badly he needed training.

Stepping back, Gai became serious for once. “Kakashi…” _Have you finally let go of the past? Are you willing to become strong again to protect your students?_

Answering the unspoken questions, the masked jounin hummed, “Mm, I just realized that I need to become stronger to protect my cute little students.”

Gai grinned. “I won’t be holding back, my eternal rival!” he yelled, before launching into an attack.

Kakashi smirked back. “Neither will I…my eternal rival,” Kakashi answered as he began his own attack.

The green-spandex wearing jounin faltered in joy, narrowly missing the masked-jounin’s attack. _Well played, my eternal rival, well played,_ he thought, easing into his next move. It would take a lot more than an admission like that to catch a ninja of his caliber off guard.

Both men jumped into battle, launching a multitude of kicks and punches, strictly sticking to only Taijutsu moves. They fought the day away, only sinking down to rest against a tree when they noticed the sky darkening.

Wiping his sweat away, the bushy-browed man jumped up and yelled jubilantly, “What a battle! I’ll be sure to take you down next time, Kakashi!”

The masked-jounin merely lifted his eyebrow at him and asked, “Hmm? Did you say something?” Smothering his laughter, Kakashi watched Gai fall over in hysterics vowing to beat his ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ rival. “Gai…”

Gai looked up from his spot on the ground.

“Good match…” _And thank you for doing this…_

“No problem!” _You can ask me for anything, my closest friend…_

They sat there, basking in the afterglow of their fight, watching the sunset silently. Words weren’t needed between the two who knew each other intimately after experiencing many life or death battles. They had each other’s backs and that was all they need to know. Nothing could replace the calm you felt in the presence of someone you could trust unconditionally. Kakashi leaned against the tree, closing his eyes. He would get stronger to protect his genin, his family. No one would take them away from him again…

* * *

 

Week (3/4) - The Ice Cream Parlor: Meeting #9

“Mmmmm, it’s soooo good!” Naruto moaned as he shoveled another spoonful of Ramen flavored ice cream into his mouth. He relaxed his shoulders as he savored his ice cream. It had been a long day and he definitely deserved a treat after all his hard work with the Hyuuga. Removing all their seals and replacing them with the new and improved versions really took a lot of time and effort, but was worth it when he saw their smiles of awe of finally being free again. Hiashi had even taken him aside and thanked him for removing those curse seals and replacing them with versions that only protected their eyes from theft without giving main branch members any control over the branch clan members. The Hyuuga Clan Head looked relieved that he was finally free from this burden and had actually taken the day off to talk to his nephew about the truth of what happened to his father. Neji hadn’t wanted to believe him at first, but the letter from his father just confirmed what his uncle had said. He could no longer blame the main branch or fate anymore. But that was okay. People could forge their own destinies, something that Naruto and Hinata had shown him by never giving up. Besides, he was a little afraid of Hinata now. He’d gone to see one of her _practice_ matches against the other girls, and let’s just say it wasn’t a pretty picture. He was so glad she ran out of her ‘supplies’ before their match! If this was how skilled she was, he couldn’t fathom fighting Naruto, whom she said was much stronger than her… _Maybe I should just forfeit my match…_ Neji despaired, vowing to train even harder. That still didn’t stop him from seeking out the blonde when he’d come by to unseal everyone. Naruto was overjoyed to have a new friend and invited him to hang out with everyone after the unsealing, but Neji declined as he still had some training to do with his uncle before the end of the day.

And that led to where Naruto was right now: devouring Ramen flavored ice cream as he waited for the rest of the genin to come.

“That looks good! What flavor are you eating?” Ino asked curiously as the rest of Team 10 joined Naruto at the table after placing their orders.

Licking his lips, the blonde replied, “Ramen flavored!” He grinned mischievously at the genin as they facepalmed.

“Leave it to Naruto to find Ramen in an ice cream store, of all places…” Kiba snorted as he and Team 8 took their place at the table. “So how have you guys been? Training hard?”

“Before we even get into that,” Shikamaru turned to ace Naruto and gestured to the boy sitting next to him. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you guys. Everyone, this is Gami E. Shin!” Naruto chirped, patting Shin’s back.

The dark-haired boy wrapped in black bandages waved hello, “You may call me Shin. This combination of frozen fruits mixed in with cold curdled dairy products is very interesting. I particularly suggest trying the Soul Shatteringly Sweet flavor. Although it doesn’t taste like real souls, it is still quite an experience!” Shin recommended, wanting to get along with Naruto’s friends. It surprised him that the first time Naruto would summon him would be to eat ice cream, instead of helping reap someone’s soul. But that just further intrigued him, making him want to get to know the silly little blonde even more. _It’s been a long time since I’ve last enjoyed myself. And Kami has been telling me to get out more… Taking a day or two off of work wouldn’t hurt anyone…probably…_ He reasoned, deciding to forget about his duties for once. Little did he know about how much paperwork would be waiting for him back at his realm due to a small massacre. He’d have to work overtime for the next few weeks to get everything back. But that was for later. Right now, he was enjoying life to the fullest.

“So, what have you guys been up to?” Naruto asked, changing the subject as he finished off the rest of his tasty frozen dessert.

“Since Shino was the only one still in the exam, Kurenai-sensei is giving him extra elemental chakra training. Hinata’s stuck doing clan duties, so I’ve just been training with my clan. My sister taught Akamaru and I some really cool combination attacks! I can’t wait to try them out at our next training session!” Kiba excitedly explained.

“As for me, I have taken to learning more Earth Jutsus to protect my Hive from external forces. My clan has also taught me a few new techniques as well,” Shino tilted his head at Hinata, signifying he was finished.

“I-I’ve been helping my father restructure the clan. There will no longer be a main and branch house. Neji-nii-san has also been training me, although he still refuses to spar with me when I use my weapons…” Hinata pouted slightly. She had wanted to show her cousin how far she’d come by developing an entire new style to suit herself. This way he’d no longer think that fate controlled everything, and that hard work and perseverance could also aid you in the completion of your goals. Although, it seemed like that wasn’t necessary anymore. As ever since Naruto had removed his seal, Neji had been looking at the world in a whole new way. Hinata figured he finally left fate behind and decided to set out to forge his own destiny.

“He’s probably too scared to, after seeing you at our practice spar,” Ino said, hitting the nail right on the head. “Well, for us, Asuma-sensei is training Shikamaru one-on-one while Choji and I are learning clan techniques. Oh, and my dad’s teaching me a few of his torture techniques and poisons,” she grinned sadistically, remembering how she beat Sakura last time with her new poisons. The pink-haired genin in a fit of inspiration, signed up at the hospital to practice her new techniques. Last week’s match was a lot harder with her employing her medic-nin ninjutsu. It may not sound like much but those chakra scalpels were really, really sharp! And hurt like hell when they sliced against you. If they hadn’t limited the spars to non-fatal strikes, Ino didn’t know who would win. She only had the advantage so far because she specialized in paralytics and non-lethal poisons which gave her the upper hand over Sakura’s pulverizing punches and Hinata’s fatal explosives. Ino shuddered remembering their devastating effects on the training ground when Hinata forgot to limit her chakra.

Seeing Ino lost in her thoughts, Shikamaru picked up from there, “I’ve been brushing up on my tactics with Asuma-sensei. The matches aren’t really about who wins but rather how you win. The fact that you made it to the finals, already shows you’re a skilled ninja. To be a good Chunin, you have to be able to show leadership skills and know how to finish a fight efficiently.” Everyone stared at the usually lazy-nin, wondering why he was so talkative today. The pineapple-haired boy ignored their looks. He’d heard that Kakashi was training Sasuke and that Naruto was left with an unknown teacher who probably wouldn’t tell him about the basics of the exam. He was just letting the blonde know to put them all on an even footing, not because he was worried about the orange genin or anything…

“Tactics, eh?” Naruto rubbed his chin in thought, unknowingly mimicking Jiraiya. “Ero-sennin didn’t mention any of that… Then again, after that first day of sealing, we’ve been spending our entire time on summoning, so he probably forgot to tell me about that.”

“Summoning? What contract are you using?” Choji asked, interested for once. His clan had the contract for butterfly summons, although no one really used it nowadays as they were too fragile to battle with. He wondered who Naruto got his summoning contract from as he was an orphan. _Maybe he inherited it from an Uzumaki or found it on his last mission to Whirlpool._

“Well, I’ve got two—” Naruto began only to be cut off.

“Two of them?!” Ino echoed in shock. She had heard about how finicky summons could be about their summoners. She’d never heard of anyone having two contracts before!

“Yeah, at first, I was going to have Toad summons, but I might have accidentally forgotten to sign the contract before making the hand seals and reverse summoned myself to Inari Mountain where the Fox summons took me over to the Toad summons and they made an agreement saying I was allowed to summon both,” Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head. He couldn’t actually tell them what had really happened, and this was close enough to the truth anyways… After all, who’d believe that the Kyuubi was jealous that he signing the Toad contract, so he forced him to sign the Fox contract too? It sounded ridiculous when you said it out loud.

 _Humph, I still say you should get rid of the Toad contract. Foxes are way cooler!_ Kurama grumbled. _Even the old amphibian admitted it._

 _He only did that because you threatened him!_ Naruto retorted and sweat-dropped.

 _Yeah? Well, foxes are still super awesome,_ Kurama pouted.

 _I know,_ Naruto fondly agreed with Kurama. It was just too cute to see the ancient Nine-tailed Fox Demon sulk because he signed the Toad contract first. _Don’t worry, I’ll always like you the best!_ Naruto assured, mentally sending some of his chakra to entwine with Kurama’s, turning it a brilliant gold as it combined. They both relaxed as the gold chakra engulfed them.

 _Hey, don’t forget about me! You can summon me too!_ A voice interrupted their bonding.

 _Shin, you know that’s not the same. Kurama is with me at all times, he’s like the other half of my soul! We’re literally stuck together forever, through thick and thin._ Naruto explained.

Kurama perked up hearing this, his tails swaying in pleasure at what his Kit said. It was great to know Naruto felt that way about him. Now if only he could get the blonde to stop making friends with such strange (and dangerous) people…

 _Hmm, it is true that your souls are connected…_ Shin conceded, figuring that two melded souls would resonate further with each other than he ever could, considering he wasn’t even sure he had a soul… _That reminds me, I should get going soon. Whenever I leave my minions for too long, they tend to get antsy. It was nice meeting you both again, we’ll have to do this again sometime!_

 _Oh,_ Naruto pouted, sad that Shin had to leave. _You’re still coming to watch the finals, right?_ He implored, mentally projecting his puppy dog eyes at him. Kurama snickered as he saw that even the Shinigami couldn’t resist his adorable little Kit.

 _Of course!_ Shin rubbed the blonde’s hair. _I wouldn’t miss it for a mass genocide, no matter how much paper work it would bring!_ He promised, standing up. “It has been nice to meet all of you but I must get going. Lots of paperwork to do, so ta-ta for now!” He waved goodbye to the genin before leaving in a puff of what the genin would’ve mistaken as smoke, if it weren’t for the fact the white gas was wriggling around and moaning.

“That was interesting,” Ino commented as she eyed the still moving white gas.

“He has to stop forgetting to take his souls with him when he leaves…” Naruto muttered under his breath, too low for any of the genin to hear. Glancing at the clock, the blonde said, “Okay, it was nice seeing you guys again, but I got to go. Ero-sennin said we were having special training tomorrow, so I need to rest up. The last time he said that, we spent the whole day doing strengthening exercises!” Saying this, Naruto hopped off his chair and said goodbye to the genin, leaving after paying.

Watching the blonde walk away, Kiba pointed out, “You know, he never did say who was teaching him…” The genin sat in silence, wondering who this mysterious _Ero-sennin_ was… They never would’ve guessed it was actually the Legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya…

* * *

 

A Father’s Legacy: An Ultimate Jutsu!

“So, what’s the super cool awesome jutsu you were talking about, Ero-sennin?” Naruto bounced, eager to see what the old had in store for him today. He was warming up to the old geezer and his antics. Though he seemed unreliable, his godfather had actually taught him quite a lot in the few weeks they had together. The first day was sealing and the next day was summoning (with the week after that devoted to training Frog Kata and Nature Chakra). After that, they took a day off where Jiraiya went to ‘report’ about where they’d been. Although the mission with Anko wasn’t very exciting, it was still interesting to see seals used in action! The next four days, they’d worked on his sensory skills. Kurama still wouldn’t let Naruto use the negative emotions sensing ability, but now he was able to sense other people and feel their chakras. According to Jiraiya, he was a pretty good sensor, although he still couldn’t sense people to the extent that Karin did. (She’d joined them to train for those four days and could see, taste, and feel other people’s chakras!) He found out that he much preferred evading sensors than being a sensor. There was just something about that rush he got whenever he ditched another ANBU on his trail and disappeared for hours on end after a particularly good prank. They’d taken another two-day break where he helped out the Hyuuga’s and went to the weekly genin meeting with his friends. Today, the Toad Sage had promised him a super awesome Jutsu, and he was so ready for it!

“This Jutsu that I’m going to teach you is the ultimate form of shape transformation and is the Fourth’s personal technique!” Jiraiya posed. “Observe!” he said, forming a small spinning blue ball on the tip of his outstretched hand. “The Rasengan!”

Naruto oohed and ahhed, watching the small blue ball flicker out. “I’m going to be learning that?” _My dad’s technique?_

Answering his wide-eyed student, Jiraiya ruffled his head and said, “Yes, but there are three steps you have to learn before mastering it. Step One is Rotation. You have to pop this water balloon with your chakra before we can move on to the next step.” He said, handing the balloon over to Naruto. “Now, don’t be surprised if you can’t get it down right away, it took me at least a week—”

“I did it!” Naruto beamed at Jiraiya, thrusting the remains of the water balloon at him. The Toad Sage goggled at the rubber remains.

“What? How’d you do it so fast?” he whined, remembering how it had taken him two days straight of chakra control practice before he could even find out the direction his chakra automatically rotated in.

“Easy, I just made it pointy! Like those medic scalpels Sakura uses,” he explained as he molded his chakra into a spike.

“Ahem, that’s one way to do it…” Jiraiya recomposed himself, realizing his student hadn’t surpassed him yet. “But, remember, this step is all about rotation. Think about it again, and try to pop the balloon by rotating your chakra.”

“Rotation?” Naruto wondered, trying to think of things that rotated and could pop things. _Rotation, rotation… What rotates and can go through things?_ Naruto wracked his brains trying to come up with something. _Ah! That’s it!_ Naruto smacked his fist on his hand. “Neji… I got it!” He closed his eyes and molded his chakra and shot it at the water balloon. “There!” he grinned at Jiraiya, who just stared at the smoking hole in the ground.

“What did you just do?” he asked, almost scared to know how this had happened. _How can anyone mess up this training technique so badly?_

“I was trying to remember things that spin and can go through things to pop it. At first, I thought of a Whirlpool but that doesn’t really pierce things so I tried to think of something else when I remembered Hinata’s cousin Neji! His name means screw, and those are pointy things that can rotate! Using that, I molded my chakra into a drill shape and shot it at the balloon!” the blonde looked up at Jiraiya with his bright blue eyes, almost as if saying, ‘praise me, praise me!’ Jiraiya swore he could almost see a tail wagging back and forth, as the genin stared up at him.

“Nice job, but still not what I was going for…Although, now that I think of it, that could be a great technique to have. It’s almost like a shooting version of the Rasengan. If we speed up the spinning and add a little more juice to it…” Shaking his thoughts of improvement of, he returned back to the lesson, “Anyways, I’m going to make this very clear for you. In this step, you’re supposed to spin your chakra in multiple directions at once fast enough to burst the balloon. Think you can do it?” Jiraiya challenged.

“I’ll show you, old man!” Naruto rose to the challenge and focused all his attention on the water balloon, trying to make it pop.

Jiraiya sunk down onto the ground and thought about that technique Naruto just used. It was reminiscent of an air bullet, except it was spinning and was more of a piercing attack made with pure chakra. If he made it so that it spun in multiple directions and added wind chakra to it, it’d be a lot more penetrative than the Jutsu his father invented… Jiraiya pouted. _Why do all my students have to idiotic geniuses? Even back when Minato invented his technique, it was only because he thought the spinning chakra looked pretty and he wanted to impress Kushina…_ Only after the Sannin had knocked some sense into his disciple, did he realize how powerful the technique could be and then work on perfecting it for the next three years.

Speaking of students, Jiraiya looked over at Naruto. Shaking his head fondly, he watched the blonde concentrate on the water balloon. Jiraiya smiled, before frowning. He still needed to think of a way to bring out the Kyuubi’s chakra. Minato’s seal filtered it and allowed Naruto access to it. The boy would need all the help he could get with Akatsuki gunning for him. It’d be okay if he’d never used it before, but reports from all over came in saying that he had unlocked it on the bridge in Wave. (Jiraiya still couldn’t believe that he had a bridge named after him! _How does that even happen?!_ ) With the boy’s Jinchuuriki status no longer under wraps (not that it ever was, with the villagers calling him Demon-brat) and the Akatsuki on the move, his godson was in a danger of undergoing extraction. The Toad Sage also wouldn’t put it past Danzo to have one of his Root minions staging an attack to take the Kyuubi for himself. Luckily, the old mummy hadn’t found someone suitable enough to house the Biju, so he still hadn’t made a move on Naruto yet… But that wouldn’t keep the blonde safe forever. Jiraiya needed him to learn to access the Kyuubi’s chakra to be able to protect himself if he wasn’t there to do so. Ideally, Naruto would be able to become Kage rank without relying on the Kyuubi’s chakra, but that took time, time they didn’t have. The only way to ensure his safety for now was to unlock that chakra which would automatically defend himself if he was in danger. At least then, he’d have some protection against everyone out to get him.

The Sannin rubbed his forehead, trying to think of a way to get the blonde to unlock the chakra hidden deep inside him. _If only, he knew how to draw up that power and use it consciously…_ Jiraiya sighed. _How to draw it up out of him? The last time he did it, he was in mortal danger, but I could never put him in any real danger. Not after I left him alone for so long… The next best thing would be to fake a dangerous situation, but what would he be afraid of? The most likely scenario would be to attack one of his friends, but he’d never forgive me if I did that, even if it was all fake…_

Moaning about this dilemma, Jiraiya almost missed it when Naruto formed a perfectly spiraling sphere inside the water balloon. Gaping at the sphere, Jiraiya watched as the blonde narrowed his eyes and concentrated, the rotations of the sphere becoming faster and faster until it popped. “Dattebayo!” Naruto whooped, fisting the air in joy.

 _I can’t believe he actually got it down in a few hours…_ The Toad Sage thought in shock, not realizing how much Naruto’s training in Wind Release had helped with his chakra control. Normally, Naruto wouldn’t have been able to get it down so fast as the Jutsu required lots and lots of chakra control, but ever since the first genin meeting, the blonde had been training his chakra control with mass amounts of Kage Bunshin. As the seal around Kurama hadn’t cracked until Wave, training with mass amounts of shadow clones held no risk of the Kyuubi escaping. And after the trip to Whirlpool, Kurama had become partners with Naruto, further lessening the risk to a nonconcern… As each clone took some of Naruto’s chakra to create, the more clones the blonde used, the easier it was for him to learn chakra control. And when he released the clones, all that experience would go back to him, until he tried it out with fewer clones, repeating the process until he could do it all by himself. By doing this, the blonde had almost high-jounin levels of chakra control, which helped him easily master the basics of Wind Release. By the time Jiraiya took over, Naruto had already been on the split-a-waterfall step of getting down his element. All of these things combined helped him learn the first stage of the Rasengan so quickly.

Closing his jaw, Jiraiya said, “Well done! The next step is Power. You have to increase the volume and density of the chakra you put into it.”

“What’s that mean?” Naruto asked cluelessly, as Jiraiya fell over.

“Just put more chakra into it,” Jiraiya simplified and tossed a rubber ball at Naruto. Catching it, Naruto looked up and caught Jiraiya’s eye. “Try popping this instead of the balloon. If you succeed, then that means you’re ready for the last step.”

 “Alright!” the blonde took the rubber ball and started concentrating on it. Jiraiya watched as the light blue chakra swirled faster and harder. An hour later, the chakra strands going into the technique got stronger and stronger until-POP!

_What? I knew that he was good at shape manipulation, but isn’t this still way too fast? It only took him a day to get down parts one and two! So not fair! It took me a week to get those down…_

“Oi, Ero-sennin, what’s the last part?” Naruto asked, pocketing the remains of the rubber ball to throw away later.

“I’ll tell you the last part tomorrow, it’s too late for us to be working on it today. We’ve been here for about seven hours, and it’s getting dark outside. Come on, I’ll buy you some dinner,” Jiraiya said as he noticed the sky darkening.

“Ramen?” Naruto asked, feeling his tummy grumble at the thought of those springy noodles smothered in salty broth, a liquid golden egg melting on top. _The food of the gods,_ he thought drooling.

“Why don’t we try something else for once?” Jiraiya groaned at the thought of more Ramen. Why did all of his students worship that salty packet of empty carbs? He was going to get fat at this rate… “Why don’t I take you to my favorite restaurant?”

“…Okay,” Naruto nodded hesitantly. He still craved Ramen, but his interest in finding out what the old pervert’s favorite food outweighed it.

“Great!” Jiraiya clapped his hands together before grabbing onto Naruto. “Hold on tight!” he said before he shunshined them to the front of the restaurant. “Welcome to the great and wonderful Shushu-ya!”

“This is a pub not a restaurant! Don’t tell me you brought us here just for the sake!?” Naruto accused, narrowing his eyes at the Toad Sage.

“Don’t mistake me for my teammate! She’s the one with an incurable sake fixation!” He yelled, before nervously looking both ways to see if she’d heard him. (Years of conditioning taught him to be on the lookout for a descending fist whenever he insulted the fiery medic-nin.) “Besides, it’s also a restaurant! It’s known for its large-platter and charcoal-fire cooking. And, the Karaage-fried chicken is really, really good here!” he drooled, picturing the deep-fried chicken.

“Okay. Are you paying?” Naruto wondered, as Jiraiya confirmed. “You’re not secretly taking the money from Gama-chan again, are you?” the blonde asked in suspicion.

“That was only one time!” Jiraiya protested. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Nope!” Naruto smirked at him.

“Fine, fine, I’ll pay! See, here’s my wallet,” Jiraiya said, holding it up.

“Alright, let’s go,” Naruto hummed, and walked into the restaurant, Jiraiya trailing behind him.

“Whatever did I do to deserve such an untrusting student?” the Toad Sage whined, wiping away his fake tears as Naruto just ignored him sat at a table. “Why doesn’t my adorable Naru-chan trust his sensei?”

“Don’t call me that!” the blonde blushed a furious red. “It makes you sound like a pervert!”

“No, it’s not true, I’m not a pervert!” he hurriedly denied.

“What!? Yeah right…” the blonde snorted.

“I’m a super pervert! Roar!” Jiraiya roared, making the diners around them stare at him in distrust.

 _Damn, he’s totally crazy…_ Naruto laughed out loud, shaking his head fondly at his godfather.

Jiraiya smiled warmly at the blonde. He loved it when the blonde let go and laughed freely. It brought a warm feeling inside his chest and convinced him that Naruto actually liked him despite all the years he’d let him down. _And that maybe… Even when he finds out the truth, that I am his godfather and was supposed to take care of him when he was younger, he’ll understand and still love me…_ At least Jiraiya hoped he would. Being hated by the sunny blonde would kill him. He wouldn’t be able to go on knowing that the last member of his family hated him too.

He didn’t have much to live for… There was almost no one from his generation left. And Hiruzen was too busy as the Hokage to even have time for his grandson, much less his adult student. His old teammate, Tsunade refused to even meet up with him, not wanting another reminder of Konoha. And Orochimaru… the less said, the better… All his other students were long dead along with their disciples (except for Kakashi, Minato’s student, but the masked-jounin only looked up to him as a respected Sannin and writer, not as part of his family) … The only one left for him was Naruto, and he could already feel himself connecting to the lonely boy, who was rapidly filling in a slot in his life that felt like it was purposefully left open for him. If the blonde cut him out of his life… Jiraiya definitely wouldn’t be able to continue on any longer… Writing books and flirting with girls were alright, but… He wanted a warm loving family too. Jiraiya could almost picture himself opening the door and welcoming in a blonde with the words, “Welcome home.” And Naruto smiling and saying, “I’m back Da—” _No, no, no… Not going there, no matter how much I want it. It won’t change the truth of the matter._ He hushed the voices in his head saying that he _could_ tell Naruto, and that the blonde would _still_ love him.

So distracted, Naruto’s voice jolted him into almost launching a Kunai at the waiter. Calming himself, he hid his shaking hands and cleared his scratchy throat. “What did you say? I was… distracted by that beautiful woman over there!” he said pointing in a random direction, hoping the blonde would buy it.

“Really?” Naruto raised an eyebrow at him, not buying it for even a second. His godfather might love women, but he never looked like he was about to cry when he ogled them.

“Hey, she was _super_ beautiful,” he defended, trying to sound sincere. It was a testament to their close bond that the blonde was able to instantaneously see through Jiraiya’s excuse. Anyone else would’ve fallen for it, figuring that a busty woman would’ve definitely distracted the lusty Toad Sage, not questioning why he looked so out of sorts or why his face was so pale… “What did you just say right now?” Jiraiya prompted again, not wanting Naruto to ask him why he was distracted.

“I said I know that you’re my godfather, Ero-sennin,” Naruto repeated, biting a chunk of meat off his skewer. Jiraiya’s face paled this time for another reason. The blonde continued on, not looking at all like he’d revealed an earth-shattering secret out of nowhere, “And I just wanted to say, thanks.” He stared at Jiraiya, trying to convey his hidden emotions without voicing them. _Thanks for training me, for caring about me, for… not hating me._

Jiraiya swallowed harshly, seeing the sincerity in the blonde’s eyes. _He doesn’t hate me, doesn’t hold it against me that I wasn’t there for him…_ “I-I should’ve been there for you, I just—I shouldn’t have left,” he finished lamely, wavering slightly when those blue eyes just continued staring at him.

Before he could say sorry, Naruto spoke in a stern voice, compelling him to stay silent and listen for once. “Listen, you don’t have to feel so bad for leaving me alone. It’s okay, I get it, besides… You came back. You came back to the village to teach me. You didn’t have to care for me, but you still did. Even though you probably heard about how I was the dead last at the academy, you still took me on as your student. I know that I’m not the smartest or most patient of people, but despite all that you never once left me or gave up on me. And…when I felt alone, you stood by my side and reminded me that I had a family,” Naruto smiled gently, remembering how Jiraiya had split an ice-cream with him when he was feeling particularly down when he saw a happy family eating ice-cream together. The old Toad Sage had blocked his view with a frozen treat and deliberately looked away, saying, “Oy, Brat, I’m too old to finish this by myself. Why don’t we share it?” It was at that moment that he knew that Jiraiya was another addition to his slowly growing list of precious people. He felt something in the pervy sage that he felt nowhere else. Whenever he finished a new technique or got further in his training, he wanted to show it to Jiraiya first, almost as if he was a little kid wanting to be praised by his… d-dad. From then on, he knew, that he’d always see the older man as the father he never had. It might’ve been weird to believe in someone so much when he only knew them for less than a month, but Naruto had a gut-feeling that he could trust Jiraiya no matter what. That he’d never try to actually hurt him on purpose and that he would always look out for him no matter what.

Jiraiya tried to hold back his emotions, but couldn’t any longer. The old man launched himself at Naruto, blubbering, “Aww, my cute little student loves me! I love you too Naru-chan!” He cried, hugging the struggling blonde tightly.

“Ero-sennin, let go of me! And don’t call me Naru-chan!” he hissed, but his happy flush gave him away. Flustered that someone had told _him,_ that they _loved_ him, he hid his head. This was just way too shocking. No one had ever told him that before! Giving up, he relaxed in the Toad Sage’s grip, enjoying the warmth of the hug. He could get used to this.

* * *

 

The Next Day: A Cliffhanger in the Making

Jiraiya stared at the training grounds and sighed, again, for the 56th time, Gama would know, he’d been counting.

“What should I do Gama? I need to get Naruto to unlock the Kyuubi’s chakra, but he only draws upon it when he’s in danger or needs to protect someone… And there’s no way I can actually put him in any real danger…” he sighed again, making it the 57th time so far.

“…” Gama just blinked. Human problems were beyond his expertise.

“It’s too bad I can’t just scare him. He needs to feel like he’s about to die to unlock it… Maybe I can fake a dangerous situation. Quick, Gama, what are you afraid of?” he looked at his companion eagerly.

“Gamabunta,” the answer came almost instantaneously.

“…Anything else?” Jiraiya asked, shivering at the thought of the Toad Chief.

“…Fire?” he answered after thinking about it for some time. He’d seen what Toad oil mixed with fire could do to a toad, and it wasn’t pretty…

“I can’t just set him on fire!” the Toad Sage threw his hands up dramatically. “What else do people fear that won’t kill them?”

“Heights?” Gama shrugged. “As a tadpole, you used to shriek whenever you rode Gamabunta and he tried bucking you off. I remember that Fukasaku used to chuckle about it and say you sounded just like Shima whenever he tried to scare—I mean, ‘surprise’ her…”

“I do not scream like a girl!” Jiraiya thundered, a vein throbbing on his forehead. “I have a deep and manly voice that women from all over the nation want to hear!” He struck a pose as Gama just sweat-dropped. Stroking his chin, he pondered, “Hmm, but heights… That might just work! Thanks Gama!” the Toad Sage yelled, hugging the startled Toad before he shunshined back to his apartment. If this was going to work, then he was going to need to make lots and lots of seals. It’d take a lot of work, but it was worth it to keep Naruto safe and help him unlock the Kyuubi’s chakra.

* * *

 

A Few Hours Later…

“Come on, come on, just a little bit more… And— POP! —Damnit!” Naruto frowned at the popped balloon.

“Hahaha!” Jiraiya laughed seeing the surprised look on the blonde’s face.

“Could you be a little more supportive?!” Naruto yelled back.

“Y-Your f-face!” the Toad Sage snorted, clutching his stomach as he hunched over laughing.

“Urghh, this is sooooo hard!!!” Naruto groaned, flopping over onto his stomach and panting heavily. Jiraiya had left him at the top of a ravine, working on the last part of the Rasengan: containment. Trying to make it inside the water balloon without popping it was way harder than all the other parts combined so far. Each time he’d focus on one part, the other part ended up unbalanced and exploded! “Ero-sennin, I’m almost out of chakra… I don’t think I can do this any longer today,” Naruto pouted. He didn’t want to stop, but he barely had enough chakra left over.

“Come on, just try it one more time. I’m sure you have enough chakra for one more attempt…” Jiraiya commanded. He could still feel some chakra circling in the blonde’s chakra system. To unlock the Kyuubi’s chakra, Naruto needed to empty his own reserves. It was a bit dangerous, but Jiraiya was sure that the blonde would pull through.

“All-right,” Naruto shakily stood up and began forming a Rasengan, drawing on the last of his reserves.

 _Sorry, Kit._ Kurama’s gravelly voice echoed in his head. _You should’ve stopped three Rasengan ago. Now, I can’t even push anymore chakra into your system without it harming you!_

 _That’s okay, I’ve still got enough chakra in me to make one more!_ Naruto reassured him, forming a wobbly blue sphere that flickered before it went out. The blonde wobbled before collapsing on the ground, barely conscious.

Seeing Naruto on the ground, Jiraiya pulled the blonde up and shunshined over to the edge of the cliff. “Get up!”

“Huh, where am I?” Naruto asked, still light-headed.

“Your training ends today. If you value your life, you’ve got to figure out things for yourself! Okay…?”

“Huh?” Naruto asked in confusion, ignoring the pit in his stomach. He had a bad feeling about this… “Ero-sennin…?” he looked up at the Toad Sage with wide blue eyes and the next thing he knew was that he was falling. “Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

As the ground approached faster and faster, Naruto hurriedly tried thinking of a way to live. _Shit! I don’t have any seals that can stop me and I don’t have enough chakra to use my Wind element. Quick! Kurama, give me some chakra!_

_Your body can’t handle any more of it! And even if I give you some, I’m fire-natured, not wind. It’d take way more chakra than you can handle to save yourself!_

_I know! I’m going to summon Gamamaru! He’s big enough to save us!_

_Summon me instead._ Kurama commanded, sending his chakra through the blonde, wincing as Naruto convulsed. Furrowing his brows together, the blonde concentrated and yelled, “Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Kurama!” summoning him in a puff of smoke. The fox immediately took ahold of Naruto and shunshined to the edge of the wall, using chakra to slide down it and slowly stop their fall until they came to a stop at the bottom of the cliff. By then, Naruto was already out cold, and it was only by sheer willpower that Kurama was still there. He growled when he felt the Toad Sage’s chakra heading towards them. They were going to have a long talk before he trusted Naruto with him again. Stroking the blonde’s hair, he calmed down, waiting for Jiraiya at the bottom of the cliff.

* * *

 

Jiraiya looked on stoically as the blonde screamed, ignoring the growing guilt he felt rising up inside him. _He’ll be okay._ The Toad Sage convinced himself. _Those seals I made will keep him safe even if he doesn’t use the Kyuubi’s chakra._ Calming down slightly, he waved as he saw Ken walking over. “All done placing the seals at the bottom of the cliff?”

Ken frowned. “Cliff? You told me to put them at the bottom of the Hokage Monument!”

“What?!” Jiraiya stiffened and rushed over to the edge and saw the blonde hurtling towards the spikes at the bottom of the cliff. “Naruto!” Jiraiya screamed in horror, not wanting to see his godson end up as a splatter on the bottom of the ravine. Jiraiya panicked, but it was already too late. “No,” he whispered, falling to his knees. _I just killed my godson…_ He felt numb, when all of a sudden, a familiar demonic chakra spiked from the pit. “Naruto?” Jiraiya shunshined down to the bottom and found Naruto prone body hanging limply in the hands of a red-haired man.

Kurama glared at the white-haired man. “What were you thinking?! He could’ve died!”

Jiraiya still didn’t know who the other man was. “Who are you?” he asked, not replying to the question.

“Humph, who I am doesn’t matter. What does matter is the fact that you _threw_ _your godson off a cliff_!” Kurama accused with barely suppressed anger. His chakra was still rampaging throughout Naruto’s body, burning its way through the blonde’s system. The worst part about this was that the burns would have to heal up naturally. He couldn’t infuse his chakra to speed up the healing process because Naruto’s body couldn’t handle any more of it. The next few days, his Kit was going to be in a lot of pain and there was nothing he could do about it.

“I-I didn’t mean too…” Jiraiya anxiously ran his hand through his thick mane. “There were supposed to be seals that would save him, but they were put on the wrong cliff…”

Kurama slightly relaxed when he heard that. Looks like the Toad Sage wasn’t trying to kill Naruto off. He’d truly made a mistake, but that still didn’t excuse him. “Do you know how this looks like?” he asked while the Toad Sage remained silent, the guilt eating away at him. “It looks like you were trying to kill him!”

“No! I wasn’t, that wasn’t what I was trying to do. I was—” he frantically explained.

“It doesn’t matter!” Kurama bellowed and then continued in a softer voice. “You know… Naruto thinks of you as a father. To have thrown him off that cliff… You broke his trust. He’s probably going to forgive you because he’s a bright ball of sunshine like that, but you have to tell him what you were doing when he wakes up. Don’t let him think that you hate him and want to get rid of him like the villagers do! That would just crush his heart. Promise me that you’ll tell him your reasons, all of them,” he implored, staring straight into the Toad Sage’s eyes.

“I promise,” Jiraiya swore. He knew he messed up and the only way to make it right would be to apologize and tell the blonde the whole truth.

Kurama nodded, sensing the white-haired man’s truthfulness. Trusting that Naruto would be alright with him, he handed the blonde over to the Toad Sage who looked at him in surprise. “Take him to the hospital. I cannot help with his injuries and I must be going. Stay by his side. He doesn’t like being alone, especially in hospitals…” Kurama said, repressing his distaste as he remembered what Naruto had told him of his prior doctors’ visits.

“I will,” Jiraiya promised, cradling his student protectively. Kurama nodded and stopped fighting the re-summoning process, vanishing back to Naruto’s seal. The Toad Sage stood in the empty clearing for a second, wondering where the red-haired man had gone, before he shunshined to the Konoha Hospital and checked the blonde in to a room.

When he heard the doctor’s diagnosis, he felt even more remorseful. _‘Extreme chakra exhaustion’_ _and ‘burns on his chakra coils’…_ This was all his fault. He hadn’t even noticed that the blonde had already been using the Kyuubi’s chakra all along because it had lost its malevolent quality when it mixed with his own chakra. He’d literally forced the kid to empty out all his reserves until he was just barely standing and then _pushed him off a cliff,_ without checking to even see if the seals were in place. He was a horrible godfather… Naruto would never forgive him or trust him after this.

* * *

 

It was late in the night, when Naruto finally woke up, feeling as if Gamabunta had accidentally sat upon him. The first thing he saw when he woke up were Ero-sennin’s deeply worried eyes staring at him. “Ero-sennin?”

“I’m sorry,” Jiraiya blurted out making Naruto’s heart sink. _What? He’s sorry? Does this mean he doesn’t want to train me anymore? Does he…agree with the villagers…and think that I’m a monster?_ Naruto panicked, his heart racing, when Jiraiya continued. “I was trying to get you to unlock the Kyuubi’s chakra so you could use it to protect yourself, but that didn’t really work out... I…” he faltered but continued when he saw those wide cerulean eyes staring at him. “There were supposed to be seals that’d stop you when you fell, but they were on the wrong cliff… I’m so, so sorry. If you don’t want me to be your teacher anymore… I understand,” he gulped, waiting for the blonde’s judgment.

“…” Naruto remained silent, thinking over what the Toad Sage had just said. _So, he doesn’t hate me… He was just trying to help me unlock Kurama’s chakra to protect me! He really does care about me…even if he did push me off a cliff!_ “What? No way! You’re not leaving me, Ero-sennin! You’re going to have to try harder than a little cliff diving to get rid of me!” he stubbornly grabbed ahold of the Toad Sage’s sash, refusing to let him leave.

“How can you still stand me? I almost killed you!” Jiraiya asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t on purpose,” Naruto shrugged, as if that made all the difference. And to the blonde, it did. “You were just trying to help me… If I hated all the people who tried to kill me, I would never be happy. Why should I hate someone who accidentally almost killed me that I actually like? Everyone makes mistakes, even Jiji does. It’s alright, I forgive you,” he consoled. He’d get Jiraiya back later for almost dying part. There were so many pranks he couldn’t wait to try on him. _Maybe I should use the Level 4 one or those new prank seals I made!_ He thought giddily, rubbing his hands together as he plotted.

 _I almost feel bad for the Toad Sage…_ Kurama sweat-dropped.

“Really?” Jiraiya asked, getting his hopes up.

“Mm hmm, but only on one condition!” the blonde grinned mischievously up at Jiraiya.

“What?” the Toad Sage asked, feeling anxious again. _Did he change his mind?_

“Teach me another Jutsu!” Naruto grinned up at him.

Jiraiya relaxed again. “I’ll teach you all the Jutsus you want when you get better. You’re not getting rid of me anytime soon,” he said, ruffling Naruto’s hair. Jiraiya smiled gently at him, continuing to pet him until he finally fell asleep again.

* * *

 

Two Days Before the Chunin Exams

Holding her clipboard, Sakura quickly entered the next room on her list. She hurriedly scanned the next entry as she pushed open the door to her next patient’s room. “Let’s see… Mm, it says the next one is in here for chakra exhaustion… Hello, my name is Saku—Naruto? What are you doing here?” Sakura asked in surprise, seeing her teammate lying on the hospital bed.

Propping himself up on his elbows, the blonde looked up and grinned brightly, “Sakura-chan! Wow, this is so cool! You’re wearing all those things doctors have! Is this what you’ve been doing for the month? Helping out at the hospital? How’s it going? Do you like it? Are you my doctor? Because if you are, you should help me check out, it’s so boooring in here!”

Sakura’s head spun from all the questions Naruto shot out. Before she could say anything, the other man in the room spoke up, “No, you can’t leave yet. You had severe chakra exhaustion! Even if you’ve mostly recovered, you’re staying here overnight for observation,” the spiky white-haired man firmly said.

“But Ero-sennin, the Chunin Exams are tomorrow,” Naruto whined. “I need to train!”

Jiraiya looked away before he could get trapped by his godson’s eyes, “No means no!”

“But training—” the blonde pouted even more.

“No Training! La la la, I can’t hear you! Na na na—” the Toad Sage plugged his ears with his fingers to block out Naruto’s voice.

Sakura just watched the two interact in a surreal silence. _What?_ She was speechless to see the so-called Toad Sage of the Legendary Sannin acting like an immature three-year-old. _Then again, Orochimaru wasn’t much better…_ Recomposing herself, Sakura interrupted the two and said, “As…nice as this is, I need to check on Naruto, so if you could please move, that’d be great!”

Unplugging his ears, Jiraiya flushed slightly at having been caught acting like this and moved out of the way. He couldn’t believe that he’d forgotten about the other girl in the room! There was just something about Naruto that brought out the kid in him. He felt so free, like he could do anything in front of his godson, and he wouldn’t be judged. He didn’t have to keep up the image of Jiraiya: The Gallant Toad Sage or Jiraiya: The Pervert, he could just be himself, be only Jiraiya with no attached definitions. Naruto could see through his masks and easily drew out his true self. If felt amazing, and he no longer felt the gaping hole in his heart anymore.

While Jiraiya was reflecting, Sakura finished checking Naruto out. “Okay, so it looks like you just had a case of severe chakra exhaustion. As long as you don’t use any chakra for the rest of the day, you’ll be all set for tomorrow. But you still have to stay the night, just in case,” she finished, averting her eyes from Naruto’s pout.

“Aww, I don’t want to stay here the whole night. Can’t you let me out early, please Sakura-chan?” Naruto pleaded. He hated hospitals. The permeating smell of anti-septic, the dull white tones of the wall, the glaring staff, just everything about the hospital sucked! And the worst part was that they had no Ramen! His stomach growled in hunger. He remembered when he was younger and he was stuck in here after another attempt. They’d forced him to eat this weird gooey green liquid that was ‘medicine.’ It tasted terrible and made him sick for another week! He never saw those doctors again, but he was still wary about being here. The nurses were never nice and all the treatments hurt, but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad this time because Sakura-chan was here.

“Sorry, Naruto,” Sakura said apologetically. She could see how much her teammate was itching to leave this place. Even when they were in the hospital after the trip to Wave, Naruto was always pacing around and anxious to leave. _He must really hate hospitals_ , she guessed correctly. “The report said that you exhausted your reserves and that if you’d even used up a little more, you could’ve been in a coma or worse died! There’s no way you’re leaving tonight,” she firmly denied, wondering how Naruto _,_ of all people, could get chakra exhaustion when he was literally bursting with it. “I need to get going now to see my other patients, but I’ll come back to see you after my shift is done. See you later!” She said and stood up to leave.

“Bye Sakura-chan!” Naruto waved at her as she left the room, before sinking back down into the covers again. He knew he had to stay the night, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. At least none of the bad nurses and doctors he knew were here, and he didn’t have to drink any of that yucky medicine to get better this time around. He just had to wait here until his chakra came back. _And it’s not like it’ll be any different from the apartment. I’m just as alone there as I am here…_

Seeing the dejected expression on the usually sunny blonde’s face, Jiraiya felt a pang of guilt in his heart. It was his fault that Naruto was here. If he hadn’t forced the other boy to empty out his reserves and pushed him off a cliff, he wouldn’t be stuck in here.

As if he read Jiraiya’s mind, Naruto reached out a hand to his godfather and smoothed out the frown on his face. “It wasn’t your fault,” he plainly said, letting his hand drop.

Jiraiya made a small noise in his throat, before insisting, “It is my fault. I should’ve known. What kind of teacher am I if I can’t even tell my student has no chakra left? _You could’ve died!_ ” He ran his fingers through his spiky hair in frustration, still not understanding why Naruto didn’t blame him.

“But I didn’t,” Naruto simply said, grabbing ahold of his godfather’s hand and bringing it to rest on his heart. “I’m still alive.”

Feeling the steady beating, Jiraiya relaxed a little. “Yeah, but if I hadn’t—”

“If you really want to make it up to me, Ero-sennin, then stay with me. If I’m stuck here because of you, then you should be stuck here too!” He grinned and playfully stuck his tongue out at the Toad Sage.

“Okay,” Jiraiya laughed, this time in relief. He’d been so scared that Naruto would hate him for what he’d done. But it looked like he had nothing to worry about. He still had a lot of things to make up to the kid, but that would come later. For now, he was content to just stay by his godson’s side. He’d already left the kid alone once, he wasn’t making the same mistake again twice.

* * *

 

Snakes and Beetles

“Danzo has ordered me to sabotage the Uchiha’s grave digging attempts, but I made it so that it is only delayed until after the Chunin Exams as a backup plan,” a glasses-wearing white-haired man reported as he bowed before the Snake Sage.

“Kabuto, are you doubting my plans?” he raised an eyebrow at the boy kneeling before him.

“No, I could never doubt your plans, Orochimaru-sama! I just thought that it would be beneficial to have more eyes to experiment on,” he bowed before him servilely.

“Oh? Is that so?” Orochimaru smirked at his follower, but didn’t pursue the matter, not caring either way. He turned his thoughts back to the forest, remembering the blonde child that had the guts to defy him. That fiery look in his blue eyes just made him want to grab the youngster and turn him against Konoha. It would be the ultimate revenge to have that passionate gaze directed towards his beloved home village. Perhaps the boy would even join young Sasuke and come to Sound with them. _Actually, that’s a great idea! I should go hunt him down and persuade him to join right now when he’s at his most vulnerable… Children are the easiest to brainwash after they’ve been hurt, just look at Kabuto!_ Standing up, the Snake Sage dismissed Kabuto and made his way to the hospital. He had a little Jinchuuriki to catch, and nothing was going to stop him!

* * *

 

A Hospital Visit

“3380… 3396… Ah, we’re here! Room #3401!” Ino announced, pushing open the door. “Choji, we’re here with food for you!”

“Troublesome…” Shikamaru grumbled as he lugged the large fruit basket into the room. “It’s not like he can even eat this food anyways…” he muttered under his breath, setting the basket in the corner.

“Sakura! What are you doing here?” Ino asked, seeing the pink-haired genin standing next to Choji with a clipboard in her hands.

“I’m working at the hospital to learn more medical ninjutsu,” she explained, adjusting the papers attached to Choji’s bed.

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Ino scratched the back of her head, sheepishly. “How’s Choji doing?”

“He’s doing fine. In another few hours, he’ll have digested most of it and will be able to be checked out. In the meantime, no eating anything that isn’t hospital food until after he checks out.” Hearing that, Shikamaru groaned at the fact that he’s carried that heavy fruit basket all the way up here for nothing. Hearing him, Sakura looked over to where he was sitting and saw the basket. “Is that fruit basket for Naruto? It’s nice that you guys are visiting him. I don’t think he’s had any other visitors except for me and his teacher.”

“Naruto? Is he okay?” Shikamaru asked worriedly as the rest of his team looked at Sakura in concern for their blonde friend.

“Yeah, he’s okay now, but when he was brought in, he was passed out from severe chakra exhaustion. He’s fine now, but he’s been getting bored. I’m sure he’d welcome it if you guys visited him,” Sakura answered back and the pineapple-haired boy nodded, making a note to visit the blonde after they’d finished talking to Choji.

* * *

 

Gaara and Other Green-Eyed Monsters

“Hmm…?” Naruto blinked, waking up to see Shikamaru sitting next to his bed.

“Hey, you finally woke up. I heard you’ve been unconscious for three days,” he said putting down the book he was reading.

“Why am I here with you? Where’s the pervy-sage?” Naruto asked, still a little out of it.

“Huh? How should I know?” Shikamaru asked, leaning over Naruto’s bed. “I mean… I’m here because I came to visit Choji, even though it’s a total drag… When I heard you were laid out too, I poked my head in.”

“What?! He got hurt that bad?” Naruto scrunched his eyebrows together in concern.

“Not quite… After his match, Choji ate too much barbecue…and got a severe case of indigestion,” Shikamaru dryly explained, internally shaking his head at his friend’s eating habits.

“Hahaha, that’s just like Choji!” Naruto laughed, making Shikamaru smile back at him.

“Humph, you two aren’t the type to get female visitors, so…” he said, suddenly feeling the need to tease the blonde.

“Speak for yourself! Sakura-chan visited me!” Naruto pouted. Sakura had been his only female visitor so far unless you counted the time when Jiraiya dressed up as a nurse to ‘cheer’ him up… That backfired on the Toad Sage when Jiji had walked in, took one look at him, and dragged him out by the ear. _Ero-sennin must be still getting a lecture…_ Naruto snickered.

“Oh! Right! It’s a huge pain… I brought this basket of food for Choji, but he’s not allowed to have it… Doctor’s orders. So, let’s eat it ourselves,” Shikamaru grinned, trying hard to look nonchalant as he placed the basket on the table next to Naruto.

“Cool! You sure?!” the blonde asked, almost drooling as he saw the instant Ramen packets in the basket. “Man, you’re a pretty cool guy!” he complimented Shikamaru who flushed.

“Shut up! It’d be a shame to let it go to waste,” the pineapple-haired boy retorted, hiding his embarrassment.

“…” Naruto smirked mischievously at him.

“Huh!? What?” Shikamaru asked, wondering if the blonde had figured out that he’d actually specially bought the basket for him.

“Hee hee hee! Just for fun, why don’t we eat this in front of Choji!” Naruto giggled.

“…You’re such a weirdo!” Shikamaru complained, but couldn’t help smiling back at the blonde. Opening up a packet of Ramen, the pineapple-haired boy asked, “So, how are you feeling? Sakura mentioned that you were in here due to extreme chakra exhaustion…”

Naruto happily took the steaming Ramen from Shikamaru and answered, “Yeah, the first few days were rough, but I’m all better now! Not that they’ll let me out of here tonight…” The blonde pursed his lips together in annoyance. “They say I have to stay here for at least another night for observation… Ero-sennin won’t even let me train!”

“Good,” Shikamaru nodded his head, reassured to see that Naruto’s mysterious teacher was looking out for him.

“Shikaaaaaaaaa,” Naruto whined. “You could at least pretend to have some sympathy!”

He snorted, “Why you would ever want to go and train when you can watch the clouds instead, I’ll never understand…” Shaking his head at the blonde, Shikamaru took out another packet of Ramen and began adding hot water to it. “Anyone else come by to visit? Other than Sakura?” he asked in interest, figuring that at least Iruka would have dropped by. Their former sensei really looked out for Naruto as if he was the younger brother he never had.

“Hmm, other than pervy-sage who brought me here, Jiji also came by. Other than that, no one else came to visit when I was awake…”

“Not even Iruka-sensei or Kakashi?” he asked in disbelief. There was no way those two overprotective mother-hens wouldn’t have stopped by if they knew that the blonde was in here.

“Nope! But it’s not like they know I’m in here…” Naruto easily dismissed Shikamaru’s misgivings. “Oh! But Hattori came by to take my last letter! He didn’t have any letters for me, but it was still thoughtful of him to visit!”

“I don’t think that really counts…” Shikamaru sweat-dropped. “Why haven’t you told anyone you’re in here. Even _I_ wouldn’t have known about it if Sakura hadn’t been your nurse.”

“I didn’t think it was a big deal. It’s not like anyone would come and visit anyways…” Naruto shrugged. He’d never really gotten visits before (other than that one time after their mission to Whirlpool, but that didn’t really count because it was for a meeting). All the other times he’d come to the hospital, he was usually checked out too quickly to even have a visitor stop by. The only other times he could think of that he’d actually gotten a visitor was after an incident. The Hokage generally stopped by to ask what had happened, but he never stayed for long. Inu also stayed behind too, but that didn’t really count either because he was usually stuck on ANBU protection duty…

It was strange that people wanted to visit him now. Jiraiya said that even Sai and Karin had been by when he was sleeping. (He still wasn’t sure if the pervert was joking or not about that…How they even found out where he was, he’d never know. Sai’s intelligence network and Karin’s sensing talents were way too overpowered. Put them together and you get two ninja that can track down practically anyone in the Elemental nations. Even Kurama was wary of what those two would do together without him there to supervise…)

Still, he was getting tired of staying in the hospital for so long. Actually, it was only because of pervy-sage’s insisting that he was still stuck in here. The doctor had told him that he could leave right after he’d woken up, muttering that it was a waste of a space for him to sleep on a patient’s bed when he could easily do so at home… His godfather didn’t agree and practically forced him to lay back down, before kicking out the doctor who said that. He even brought in another doctor who agreed with him, forcing him to be stuck in observation for the next few days! It was so not fair. _I could’ve been training right now! I’m so close to finishing the Rasengan, I can practically feel it! If only Jiraiya hadn’t attached that chakra monitor seal on my bed…_

Shikamaru saw the contemplative look on Naruto’s face and felt his heart sink. The blonde really believed that no one would care that he was in the hospital. And who could blame him? He was an orphan and it’s not like he had any close friends back at the academy. No one would have noticed if he hadn’t showed up to class… All those times he’d been sick, did he have to endure it all by himself at his apartment? No one there to comfort him and tell him he’d be all right. No one there to take care of him… Suddenly feeling the need to show the blonde that he had people who cared about him, Shikamaru placed his hand on Naruto’s shoulder and said, “If you ever get sick…or even just need something, you know that you can always come to me, right?” He needed to make Naruto understand that he was there for him.

Naruto was confused by how serious Shikamaru was being, but nodded nonetheless. “Okay,” he agreed, feeling a warm feeling travel throughout him. They stared at each other, a strange tension hanging in the air, when the door banged open, startling Shikamaru into letting go of the blonde.

Turning his attention to the door, Naruto was surprised to see the familiar figure. “Gaara! What’re you doing here?” he perked up, happy to see the stiff red-head standing in front of the door.

Gaara surveyed the room and slowly positioned himself at the other side of Naruto’s bed. He glanced at Shikamaru briefly before he answered, “Moth—I mean, Father heard Kurama mention that you were in the hospital, so I came to find you.” He scowled at Naruto. “What were you thinking?! Using _that_ chakra when you _knew_ it’d burn you! If I didn’t know you any better, I’d think you were trying to kill yourself!” he accused.

“Hey! It was either that or being impaled by the spikes at the bottom of the cliff,” Naruto grinned at Gaara, realizing that the red-head was just worried for him.

“How you ever even managed to fall off a cliff, I will never understand…” Gaara shook his head at the blonde, finally relaxing and feeling relief course through him now that he knew Naruto was okay.

“I’ll have you know that I was pushed off the cliff,” Naruto sniffed, while Shikamaru watched the exchange in silence, an unknown emotion gripping at his insides.

“Was it another… _attempt_?” Gaara’s face darkened, his sand swirling around him as it responded to his agitation.

“No, no,” Naruto hurriedly denied. “Believe it or not, it was actually an accident this time around…”

“Really?” the red-head asked in suspicion, not entirely believing that it was just an _accident_.

“Really,” the blonde nodded his head vigorously.

“Alright then,” Gaara reluctantly dropped the subject.

“…” Shikamaru just narrowed his eyes at the red-head, not liking that someone from Sand knew more about Naruto’s life than he did. _Just who is this Kurama? And why did Gaara’s father, of all people, know about Naruto being in the hospital? What are these attempts that they were talking about and how exactly did Naruto end up in here? Falling off a cliff doesn’t cause chakra exhaustion!_ He gripped his ponytail in frustration.

“I saw some of your friends on the way here too… The dog boy Akamaru I believe?” Naruto snickered at that. He couldn’t wait to tell Kiba that Gaara had mistaken him to be Akamaru! “He was with the one in the trench coat and the pale-eyed girl Hinata? I told them you were in here too. Thought they might want to visit as well,” Gaara averted his eyes, not knowing if this was the proper protocol to follow with friends…

“Really? Awesome! It was getting boring in here anyways, the more people, the merrier!” Naruto whooped, beaming at Gaara.

Shikamaru pouted slightly. He had wanted to be alone with the blonde. The hyperactive boy was just so interesting. He never reacted the way Shikamaru thought he would. It was thrilling to see his reactions to each and every thing. It was almost as good as cloud-watching…

Before anyone else could say something, the door whooshed open again revealing Team 8. “Naruto! Heard you were sick so we came to visit!” Kiba boomed as Akamaru pounced on the blonde, licking him all over.

“Hahaha! Stop it, that tickles!” Naruto laughed as Akamaru continued cuddling with him until Hinata finally pulled him off. “Thanks, Hinata!” Naruto smiled at her.

“Y-You’re welcome, Naruto-kun,” she said shyly, hugging Akamaru to her chest.

“How are you feeling right now? Do you still believe you will be able to attend the Chunin Exams tomorrow?” Shino asked, walking over to stand beside Hinata. The blonde looked a little paler than usual, but seemed fine other than that.

“I’m fine! They said I’d be all better in time for the exams tomorrow!” Naruto answered back. “I’m pumped for tomorrow! What about you, Shino, Shika, Gaara?” he asked looking back and forth between the three.

“It’ll be a drag, but I’m ready for tomorrow,” Shikamaru replied, biting back a groan at the thought of having to fight.

Shino let out his Kikaichu, allowing them to swarm around the room before he pulled them back in. “As you can see, my partners and I are ready for tomorrow!” he answered stoically.

“…Tomorrow shall be interesting,” Gaara finally replied. He had ‘tipped’ off the Hokage about tomorrow’s planned attack by faking the death of that one jounin who had overheard them, so he was hoping that there wouldn’t be a battle tomorrow. Temari had somehow found out that he didn’t want to fight (which wasn’t really all that hard, considering how the red-head’s only friend was Naruto…), and was trying to convince the Kazekage to stop the invasion. Kankuro just gave up and told them that he’d follow whatever they decided, figuring that anyone who could sway Gaara into becoming semi-stable had to be amazing… Besides, even if Temari didn’t succeed, there was always the back-up plan. But he really, _really_ didn’t want it to come to that…

 _Come on, it’ll be fun!_ Shukaku tried to coax Gaara.

 _And that’s precisely why I don’t want to use it… Anything you approve of, can’t be all that good…_ Gaara dryly retorted. Ever since Naruto had helped fix up his seal, he was beginning to get more and more clear-headed. A good night’s worth of sleep really worked wonders on your sanity! Now, if only he could transfer some of that sanity to that loud-mouth raccoon stuck in his head…

 _Haha, nice try! But, Ore-sama will never bow down to normality! Ore-sama tried it once and found it way too boring! Besides insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked up in what cage. Of course, you wouldn’t understand Ore-sama’s brilliance. Muahahaha!_ Shukaku cackled madly as Gaara sighed wondering why he’d gotten stuck with the crazy Biju.

 _Then again, maybe it’s for the best…_ He thought, shuddering at what would’ve happened if Naruto had Shukaku sealed inside him instead of Kurama. He could just see the blonde storming all the Ramen stands across the nation as Shukaku egged him on… Yup, it’s definitely a good thing he has Kurama instead… The fox doted upon him, treating and taking care of him as if he was his own ‘Kit’. Without him, the red-head couldn’t even begin to imagine the amount of trouble Naruto would get into. _For example: deciding to tell a blood-thirsty Jinchuuriki that you’re his brother without having ever met him before…_

“—ara, Gaara? Woohoo, anyone there?” Naruto waved his hand in front of the zoned out red-head.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, before I forget, Temari told be to give this to you,” Gaara dug a plant out of his gourd. “She told me that friends usually bring gifts to people in the hospital. You said you liked taking care of plants before, so I bought you this. Is it satisfactory?”

Naruto gasped as the red-head peered at him, waiting for his reaction. “Wow! This is so cool! I’ve never seen a plant like this before! Mr. Ukki is going to be so happy to finally have company!” he said, thrilled to have another addition to his growing plant collection.

“I’m glad you like it. The man at the shop mentioned that Hashirama’s, your village founder’s, best friend used to have a pet cat named Ryo that just loved playing with this particular plant whenever he grew it, leading him to name it Mokutenryo,” Gaara explained, placing the plant on a table. After he was sure it wouldn’t fall over, the red-head turned around and moved closer to the blonde who was flushed red. “Naruto? What’s wro—” he didn’t even get to finish his sentence because Naruto had pulled Gaara up on top of him.

“Mm, what’s that smell?” he inhaled deeply and sunk into Gaara’s shoulder, while the red-head squirmed, flustered.

“Naruto, you need to let go,” Gaara said sternly, trying to pry the blonde off of him, but Naruto only clung onto him tighter.

“Noooo, I don’t want to let go,” the blonde pleaded, staring up at Gaara with out-of-focus eyes. “You smell soooo good,” he mumbled, slumping down even further.

“Naruto, you need to wake up!” Gaara began panicking, seeing the blonde’s beginning to close his eyes. By now, the other genin were getting anxious too.

“We need to call a doctor!” Kiba frowned at the blonde’s unresponsive state as Hinata pushed the button to call the nurse on the bed. Within a few seconds, Sakura appeared at the door.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, a wrinkle forming between her brows as she saw Naruto’s near catatonic state. Maneuvering around Gaara, she took his vitals, she said, “There appears to be an airborne sedative that is affecting him. Did any one of you bring anything new into this room?”

The genin shook their heads no, when Shikamaru blurted out, “The plant! It must be what’s affecting him…”

Sakura nodded. “That also explains why he’s clinging to Gaara… I recognize this plant, it’s Mokutenryo, also known as Catnip…”

“Isn’t that supposed to make cats really energetic?” Shikamaru asked, not understanding why it was having the opposite effect on Naruto.

“No,” Kiba shook his head. “It doesn’t only affect cats, it also affects dogs. Only, it makes them really sleepy instead of hyper…” he explained, remembering how lethargic Akamaru became when he’d accidentally eaten a patch of it when he was a puppy. His sister, Hana had also mentioned that the plant could even affect humans, although it was very rare. “But it’s only supposed to have a mild calming effect on humans,” he quoted his sister.

“Well, drugs can affect people differently,” Sakura shrugged, adding Naruto’s reaction to the plant to his medical files. “Maybe this one just affects him more than normal…”

“You can let go of him now,” Shikamaru interrupted their discussion, staring directly at Gaara. Just realizing that the red-head was practically _hugging_ , their beloved blonde, the other genin in the room snapped their heads to glare straight at Gaara, mentally commanding him to let go.

Gaara sighed, running his free-hand through his hair. “I would if I could,” he shrugged helplessly. It didn’t seem like Naruto was letting go anytime soon.

“Naruto, you have to let go of Gaara now. He needs to get back to his family,” Sakura persuaded, while Gaara sweat-dropped. He didn’t really need to go back to the hotel anytime soon. In fact, he didn’t actually mind the blonde hugging him. It felt sort of nice to be surrounded by warmth for once without it being a death threat. He ignored the fact that his last hug had been from his uncle who was trying to murder him…

“No,” Naruto whined in a soft voice, almost half-asleep. Cracking his eyes open, he stared at Gaara with wide teary eyes and pleaded, “Don’t go.” Tugging on the red-head’s clothes he implored, “Please.” Seeing this display, the other genin’s faces darkened, as they glowered harder at the red-head with a small spike of killing intent, not wanting _their_ Naruto to be held by someone they barely knew. Heck, they _still_ glared at Kakashi whenever he got too close to their blonde. What made it any different for someone who didn’t even live in their village?

Gaara rose an eyebrow at the killing intent directed at him, but brushed it off. It was nowhere near the amount he was used to whenever assassins came after him. Twisting around in Naruto’s hold, he faced the blonde and gently shook his shoulder. “Hey,” he began once he was sure Naruto was listening to him. “I’m fine with staying here the night, but this position is uncomfortable. Move over so I can have some more room,” he ordered, mentally noting the killing intent triple in the room.

“Mm hmm,” Naruto agreed sleepily and moved over, making room for Gaara to slip in next to him. He then went back to sleep, an arm around Gaara, heedless to the tension in the room.

“I’ll let you have an extended visitor’s stay, as he doesn’t seem to be letting go anytime soon,” Sakura finally sighed, marking it off in her notepad. She knew how stubborn the blonde could be when he really wanted something. Just look at how long he’d chased after her back at the academy despite how brutally she’d rejected him each time. “But, the rest of you have to leave,” she said, addressing the rest of the genin. “Visitors’ hours have already ended and he’s asleep so there’s no point to staying here any longer…”

They nodded and headed to the exit reluctantly. Shikamaru glanced back at the bed and tightly fisted his hands when he saw the red-head’s arms wrapped around the blonde. He felt an unfamiliar emotion burn his insides. _I should be the one to be at Naruto’s side—Wait! What am I thinking?_ He shook his head as he left the room, lost to his thoughts…

* * *

 

Jiraiya turned the corner, knocking over a girl. “Are you okay?” he asked, helping her up. At least this time it wasn’t his godson he thought, remembering what happened last time… Banishing away those memories, he refocused his attention on the pale-eyed girl again. _Hey, wait a minute. I recognize this girl, isn’t she one of Naruto’s friends?_

Hinata got up of the ground and said, “Thank you for your assistance.” She bowed slightly, not realizing that her nosebleed had started up again.

“Woah! Your nose is bleeding! Did you hit it when I knocked you over?” Jiraiya asked, looking around to see if there was a medic-nin nearby.

“Please don’t worry, it wasn’t caused by the fall…” Hinata blushed slightly. It was mortifying to admit, but the sight of Naruto and Gaara together in the same bed together was too stimulating for her… Luckily, she hadn’t fainted this time around. Instead, she’d only gotten a nosebleed. _How embarrassing!_

“…Okay, if you’re sure,” Jiraiya scratched his head. Kids were getting harder and harder to understand nowadays.

“I must be going now, but thank you for your help,” Hinata said.

“Anything for a beautiful lady like you!” Jiraiya said, giving her a thumbs-up. She blushed but waved goodbye as she left the hospital. Chuckling, Jiraiya continued down the hallway on his way to Naruto’s room. He opened the door and announced, “Brat! I’m back!~” Only to see the blonde curled up on his bed with a red-head wrapped around him. _Wow! The kid works fast!_ He whistled. _Like father like son, they both went after red-heads. Must be a family-trait…_ Jiraiya thought, misunderstanding what was going on.

Hearing the door open, Gaara stirred and opened his eyes to stare at Jiraiya. _Who’s that?_ He thought, getting ready to attack with his sand, just in case.

“Woah, hold your horses, sonny,” Jiraiya put his hands up, seeing the sand lift up threateningly. “I’m Naruto’s godfather,” he said proudly, puffing out his chest. Gaara relaxed again, staring at the weird man in front of him claiming to be Naruto’s godfather. “And as his godfather, I’m also the one who will come after you and kill you if you do anything to hurt him!” he stared sharply at Gaara, letting him know he was serious.

“…” Gaara blinked before saying, “I think you are misinterpreting something. Naruto and I are only friends. At most, brothers.” Gaara explained, interrupting the Toad Sage before he could say anything else. “The only reason we are sleeping together is because that plant,” he pointed at the table before continuing. “Affected him and made him clingy. As I was the last one to handle the plant, he refused to let go of me. One of his friends, the pink-haired nurse, came in and said that the plant was known to act as a sedative upon humans and dogs, although usually not to as extreme a degree…”

“Dogs…Foxes… Sedative,” Jiraiya murmured as he took everything in, figuring out that the plant was super effective on Naruto due to him holding the Kyuubi. _Foxes are a part of the Canis family which is closely related to dogs. As it acts as a sedative on both humans and dogs, both those things together must make it so that he is highly susceptible to the plant._ He figured, nodding his head. _No wonder he looks so out of it…_ “If that’s the case, for now we should isolate the plant so it no longer affects him,” Jiraiya spoke aloud, sealing the plant away into a storage seal. “I’ll take it back to his apartment later,” he explained, already thinking of making a new seal that would filter out smells so the plant would no longer affect the blonde. He began mumbling different calculations under his breath, lost in his own world. Gaara blinked at the Toad Sage, and drifted off back to sleep, to the quiet murmuring of Jiraiya’s mutterings.

* * *

 

Orochimaru Bugs Out!

A figure slithered his way across the floor, heading towards the room he knew his target was in. He’d seen Sarutobi pull Jiraiya out of the room earlier and knew that there was no one else powerful enough to stop him from accomplishing his goal. Turning the corner, he crept across the floor to the room and stopped in front of the door. Slowly turning the door knob, he opened the door…and then rapidly shut it, the image of bugs swarming the room firmly stuck in his head. _How did they know of my one true weakness?!_ He slipped away from the floor his heart pounding as he left the hospital in a hurry. There was no way he was going to stay there any longer in the presence of _those_ _creatures_. He could write a poem declaring his hatred for those slimy, sick pests. In fact, he had one written down for moments like these, it went:

_Icky Crawly Creature: Bugs!_

_I hate them!_

_More than Hiruzen, more than Danzo, more than Konoha._

_I hate them!_

_Time to die,_

_SQUISH,_

_The end…_

Such a nice ending. Why couldn’t this poem reflect real life? Extinction to all species! Murder those abominations! They didn’t deserve to exist on this Earth living with him. The world would be better off without them. Sure, the ecosystem might collapse and there might be world-wide food shortages, but it’d be worth it to live in a bug-free world! Too bad, no one at Sound agreed with him. Not even Kabuto enjoyed the longer version of his poem:

I am Orochimaru who will exterminate all those crawly creatures,

And I refuse to believe that

bugs are useful.

I realize that this may be a shock, but

bugs are helpful.

No, actually, this is a lie!

Bugs are super evil!

In time, the world will know that

I have my priorities straight (I am not crazy) because

a bug-free world

is way more important than

something like pollination.

I tell you this:

Once upon a time,

bugs covered the lands.

But this will not be true in my era,

Orochimaru will wipe out this world of bugs!

Research shows that

the world can live without bugs.

So, I do not conclude that

bugs are necessary.

In fact, in the future,

bugs will be extinct.

No longer can it be said that

bugs outnumber ninja.

It will be evident that

bugs deserve to die off.

It is foolish to presume that

bugs can be helpful.

Unfortunately, no one from Sound agreed… They preferred reading his poem backwards, thinking it to be a reverse poem. They still didn’t understand the true horrors those pests could be…

Maybe he should leave writing to Jiraiya… He’d heard his dim-witted ex-teammate made a killing on those perverted books he used to write. And everyone thought he was the depraved one! Just because he preferred taking over younger bodies to older ones, didn’t mean he was a pedophile. They didn’t understand that the younger a body was, the easier it was to connect with it as the chakra pathways hadn’t fully formed yet to reject his chakra…

But anyways, back to the main topic of his rant. He spent _years_ living in Konoha without once having to partner up with an Aburame. How did Sarutobi ever find out about his Entomophobia? _It seems like that old fool is trickier than I thought… I better move up the plan before he can stop me. The next step is…the Kazekage…_

* * *

 

The Kazekage’s Last Regrets

If he could, Rasa would slam his head on the wall behind him to put him out of his misery. This was the third time an elder from the council had cornered him, asking him about what Gaara had said during the fight. They were convinced he had been pulling Gaara’s strings all along and that his ‘mother’ was just a farce to discourage people from getting closer to Gaara... He still had no idea where his youngest had got the idea that his imaginary friend was somehow him… Then again, nothing Gaara did ever made any sense, although he seemed more subdued now… In fact, he’d even made a friend with a young blonde…

Leaving the meeting room, Rasa walked to his bedroom, dreading the talking-to he was going to get from Temari. His daughter had somehow gotten it in her head that he was the reason Gaara was crazy… Well, she wasn’t exactly wrong, but not for the reasons she thought so. He should’ve never decided to follow the elders’ suggestion to seal Shukaku into Gaara. Maybe then the red-head wouldn’t be so off… Oh well, it was too late for any regrets now. He dragged his legs, wishing for a distraction, anything to keep him away from the promised tirade…

“Kazekage, how pleasant to see you,” a voice greeted him.

Turning around, Rasa acknowledged the Snake Sage’s presence, “Orochimaru. What do you want?”

“Now, now, is that anyway to talk to your benefactor?” his sickly-sweet voice dipped with hidden threats. “Let’s take this somewhere else before someone can stumble upon us, hmmm?” Rasa stiffly nodded and followed the Snake Sage into a private room, locking the door. At least he was delaying his daughter’s lecture…

“Talk,” Rasa commanded.

“How pitiful, you think you can actually demand me to do something?” Orochimaru mocked, as Rasa felt even more unsettled.

“Speak quickly then,” Rasa hissed. “I have an appointment back at my room to get to!” He said, not really knowing why he was insisting to leave when he knew the horrors awaiting him.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be quick,” Orochimaru promised, the wicked smile not leaving his face. “I just need to… _borrow_ your body for a bit.”

The Snake Sage’s eyes gleamed and the next thing Rasa knew was that he was on the floor staring as Orochimaru drained his body. His last thoughts were, _at least I don’t have to listen to that lecture anymore…_

Orochimaru flexed his fingers, feeling his soul settle into his newest husk. “I better get going. Wouldn’t want to miss _my_ meeting,” he smirked and headed towards Rasa’s room.

Only to curse himself an hour later as Temari berated him.

“And you shouldn’t send assassins after Gaara anymore, no matter how badly you want to get rid of them. You already traumatized him enough by pretending to be his best friend…”

If he knew this was going to happen, then he would’ve waited another day, heck even another week to escape this she-devil… _This all those bugs’ fault! If they hadn’t spooked me, I wouldn’t have overtaken the Kazekage’s body so soon… Curse those bugs! Just wait, after I become immortal, I’m coming after you next! Be ready to go extinct you stupid pests! Muahahaha!_

“Dad, are you listening to me?” Temari asked in outrage, seeing her father not focusing on her.

“Yes, dear, whatever you say,” Orochimaru replied automatically.

“Great, so will you sign this then?” she asked in her most innocent voice.

“Sure, sure,” he replied, willing to do anything to get rid of the evil child in front of him. Temari secretly smirked as she saw her ‘father’ sign the paper in front of him. This would definitely put a stop to his plans! She couldn’t understand why Gaara didn’t like it. _She_ thought it was a brilliant plan and way easier than persuading their stubborn father to change his mind…

Orochimaru just smiled at Temari, waiting for her to leave the room. _Good riddance,_ he thought when she finally left. The next day was the Chunin Exams and he had a lot more to do to be ready for the invasion…

* * *

 

The Chunin Exams

Naruto stood next to Gaara, staring at the crowd in anticipation. He couldn’t wait to fight Neji today! Scanning the crowd, he found Sai and waved at him, tuning back in time to hear the proctor say that he’d give Sasuke until his turn to show up before he was disqualified. _Where are you Teme?_ Naruto thought as he searched the crowd for that familiar set of white gravity-defying hair, only to be disappointed. _At this rate, they’re going to miss my fight!_ He fretted as Gaara patted his back, noticing how tense his friend was.

“Relax, they probably just woke up a little late…” he reassured the blonde, mentally deciding to destroy them if they didn’t show up in the next five minutes. Luckily for everyone, Kakashi showed up with Sasuke in tow right at that moment.

“Sorry we’re late, but we lost track of time on the mountain,” he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. They almost hadn’t made it in time. Fortunately, his shadow clone had dispersed telling him to book it to the stadium if he didn’t want to miss Naruto’s fight.

“Kaka-sensei!” Naruto grinned up at him, happy to see his sensei again after a month.

“Alright, settle down now. Stop fidgeting and face towards the guests,” the proctor warned the genin, before gesturing for Kakashi to take his place in the crowd. The jounin ruffled Naruto’s hair and shunshined to join the other jounin in the stands.

“Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests… Welcome and a heartfelt thanks for gathering here in Konohagakure for… the Chunin Selection Examination!” The Hokage announced as the crowd cheered. “We will now begin the matches of the final round between the eight candidates who advanced in the preliminaries!” Please sit back and enjoy!”

The proctor stepped forward and said, “Before we begin, I have a few announcements…” He took out a chart and continued, “Look here! There have been a few last-minute changes. Look again and confirm your assigned opponent.”

Naruto looked over at the sheet and was surprised to see that the order they were fighting in had changed. _What? Why is my fight last? Even Sasuke’s is before mine…_ He pouted at the thought of having to wait to fight.

“Hey, you mean my match has been moved up?!” Shikamaru groaned. _Well, better earlier than later… Then I can relax for the other matches…_

“Listen up all of you, this is the last exam. The landscape may be different, but just as with prelims, there are no set rules. You fight until one of you admits defeat unless I determine that a clear winner has already been decided… In which case, I’ll stop the match before anyone’s killed, understand?” the proctor spoke sternly to the genin who nodded. “Alright then… Match One: Temari and Shikamaru Nara, you two stay down here… The rest of you, proceed to the waiting room outside the arena.” The genin slowly filed out, earning the crowd’s wrath.

“Hey! Start the match already! Just get it over with!” the crowd jeered in anticipation. _Hey! Hey! What’s the rush?! Hold your horses! Why am I always getting shafted in the match schedule, huh? Darn it… I should just withdraw…_

 “All right! Go get ‘em, Shikamaru!” Naruto patted Shikamaru’s back, accidentally using too much strength, knocking him over.

“Ugh,” Shikamaru groaned. _Naruto, you jerk… Now I can’t withdraw…_

“How long are you gonna lie there? Get up, kid!” the proctor prodded.

Shikamaru just laid out sprawled on the ground unmoving, like a dead starfish. _No one cares about the outcome of my match… Is there any point in fighting?_

“What, are you going to give up?” Temari mocked, seeing him lazily lie on the ground.

Asuma sighed. _That kid doesn’t have a competitive bone in his body…_

“Hey, Shikamaru!!! Get up and fight!!!” Naruto encouraged from the stands. Shikamaru perked up hearing Naruto calling his name, deciding to show off a little. He readied his smoke bombs, knowing he’d already ticked off his opponent.

“If you won’t come to me, I’m going to come to you!” Temari yelled, rushing forward.

“Hey! I haven’t told you start yet…” the proctor complained.

“Sheesh, this chick really wants to fight,” he grumbled, stabbing his Kunai into the wall next to him. The next moment, the stadium exploded and when the smoke cleared, Shikamaru could be seen standing on two Kunai stuck into the wall, crossing his arms. “I don’t really care if I become a Chunin or not, but… I can’t stand the idea of losing to a girl, so… I guess I’m in!”

Temari just gaped at the confidence the boy who was laying prone on the ground a second ago showed. “Humph,” she sniffed, opening her large fan and swinging it around, destroying the platform. Only to see no one standing where she’d aimed. _He’s quick…_

* * *

 

Naruto sat down next to Ino and looked up to see Sasuke walking over to the stands opposite of them. _Why’s he sitting all the way over there?_ He wondered, staring over at the raven-haired boy.

Following his gaze, Sakura sighed and stood up. “I’ll go see what’s wrong with him. You stay here, he might just be wanting to hide what he’s learned from you for the finals…” she sighed, knowing how stubborn Sasuke could get. Naruto nodded at her, watching her disappear in the crowd and then turning back to the genin.

“Hey, where’s Kiba and Hinata?” he asked Shino who was standing behind them.

“Hinata is sitting up there with her family,” he pointed at the crowd. “Her father wanted her and Neji to sit together today to show how they’d changed their policies of no longer having a branch house… Kiba had to go to the bathroom after drinking some rotten milk, so who knows how long he’ll take,” Shino shrugged as Naruto winced in sympathy.

They both turned back to the fight, just in time to see Shikamaru and Temari facing off. Ino jumped up and swung her fist, “Knock her block off, Shikamaru! Just hit her with a 1-punch combo!” She cheered as Choji sat down next to her, munching on some chips.

“Hmm? I thought Naruto’s match was first?” he wondered, watching Shikamaru duck under the blonde girl’s giant fan.

“Oh… It’s you... Is your stomach better already?” Ino asked, seeing him finish off his bag of chips.

“Yeah, I’m all better now,” he answered. “Huh… Shikamaru fighting in the finals? It’s kind of weird…”

“Don’t say that! Shikamaru may not be a superstar or anything, but he’s really good at strategy and stuff! That’s why he made it all the way through the prelims. Besides, you of all people know how hard he’s trained for this…”

“You think?” Choji asked, unconvinced. He couldn’t see Shikamaru wanting to pass the exams and gaining all the extra responsibilities being a Chunin would entail. “Well… I bet he’s going to give up and quit pretty quickly. He’s so lazy…”

“That’s not true!” Ino argued. “You missed his dramatic beginning leap to show off. He seems unusually aggressive today! He’s got a passionate side to him too!”

 _Wait, really? He’s actually trying for once?_ Choji could barely believe it.

“Go, Shikamaru!” Naruto called out, waving at the pineapple-haired genin who suddenly acted as if he’d been injected with chicken’s blood and jumped onto the tree.

 _…Then again,_ Choji thought, eyeing Naruto. _If anyone could get him this pumped up, it’d be him…_

* * *

 

Shikamaru stared dazedly at the skies. _Oh… How I envy the clouds… They’re so free…_ He crouched down again to miss Temari’s air blast. _I have no desire to fight… The whole reason I became a ninja in the first place was so I could live my life anyway I wanted…_ He frowned at a hole in the ground, the beginnings of a plan already forming.

“Hey, c’mon! Go Shikamaru!” he heard Naruto cheer.

 _…But it looks like it won’t be that easy._ He smirked, plotting how to beat Temari.

Temari just scowled at him. _What’s that stupid expression on his face… Is he mocking me?!_ She growled and unleashed her Ninja Art: Kamitachi Wind Scythe!

 _Whoa,_ Shikamaru thought as he braced himself against the attack and let his shadow trail out towards her. Unfortunately, she saw through his ploy and leaped back.

“The Shadow Possession Technique revealed! It seems there are limits to how far you can reach your shadow, hmm?” she derided, mentally calculating how far his reach was. _32 cm… That’s how far I have to stay out of reach…_

Shikamaru sighed, but inwardly smirked that she’d fallen for her trap. _Now to make it realistic…_ He touched his thumb and fingers together making an ‘O’ shape, his signature thinking pose. _This should throw her off, if what I saw during training was correct…_

Temari narrowed her eyes at him. _Humph, let’s see what you can come up with! I don’t believe that you can defeat me even after thinking about it…_ She recalled how he’d make that pose whenever he was ‘training’ with his teacher. Each time he made it, he’d win the game they were playing. But this was real life, not a game. There was no way he could rely on some ploy to defeat her… _No matter what strategy you come up with, I’ll always be able to beat you!_

* * *

 

“Huh? What is that hand sign?” Kurenai asked in confusion.

Asuma chortled, “That’s not a sign. It’s just a habit of his…”

“Habit?” she probed, turning around to face her boyfriend.

“Whenever he gets stuck, he always assumes that pose.” Seeing his girlfriend’s confusion, he clarified. “He’s plotting his strategy. I’ve never beat him once when he got serious…”

“Strategy? This is a real battle, not a game! Geez…” she frowned, unknowingly echoing Temari’s reaction.

“People say that before they became play pieces. Those same ‘games’ were used by military advisers to plan their strategies… So, I guess Shikamaru would make a first-rate military advisor!” Asuma blew out some smoke.

“Oh, really?” Kurenai asked, unconvinced. “But I remember that his grades back at the academy were as bad as Naruto’s!” she accused, before drawing back as a shuriken came between them.

“Ahem,” Kakashi interrupted. “Don’t bring my cute little genin into this, okay?” he eye-smiled threateningly at them, promising to get revenge if they continued on that line of thought.

“R-right,” Asuma glanced at Kakashi’s glinting eyes and sweat-dropped at how protective the one-eyed jounin was being. “Back at the academy he was too lazy to take notes and he always dozed off at exams…” Asuma began, drawing Kurenai’s attention. “I was so baffled by his proficiency at games… that I tricked him into taking an IQ test.”

“So? What was his score?” she leaned in, waiting to hear how the story ended.

“He’s a sharp one alright! His IQ is over 200! He’s a freakin’ genius!” Asuma bragged, taking another puff of his cigarette.

 _T-two hundred?!_ Kurenai gasped in shock. Turning back to the arena to see what the lazy boy would do next. Shikamaru was just standing there, when suddenly he stretched out his shadow again toward the blonde girl, reaching across the spot she marked before.

“The sun… It made his shadow longer,” Asuma explained as Temari hopped back, only to have parachuting Kunai extend Shikamaru’s shadow even further.

“He’s going too easy on her,” Kurenai complained, seeing the girl dodge once again.

“Hmm… This girl’s a pretty good strategist too. She’s analyzing and anticipating his attacks…” Asuma stroked his beard in contemplation, wondering what his student would do next. He watched as Temari gathered her remaining chakra and raised her fan in one last attack, only to freeze.

“That boy…How many steps ahead is he thinking?!” Kurenai said in shock.

“That’s Shikamaru’s strength!” Asuma proudly stated, watching his student reveal how he’d caught her in his trap.

“No way!” Kurenai said in disbelief, seeing the second shadow Shikamaru extended along the arena’s side, taking advantage of its shadow to trail his and entrap Temari from behind.

“All right! Get her!” Naruto cheered.

“Go for it!” Ino clenched her fists in joy, while Choji just shook his head at the eager blondes.

Temari just glared at the genin in front of her, involuntarily stepping backwards towards the wall. _Those parachutes were a diversion?! You…You jerk!_

She closed her eyes, waiting for the final blow, when she heard him say, “That’s it… I’m done…” _What?!_ She opened her eyes in disbelief.

Ino fell over hearing him say that as Naruto just stared at the proceedings in shock. “I told you he was going to quit… You really don’t know anything about Shikamaru, do you, Ino?” Choji munched on his chips.

“Wh-What?” Temari couldn’t accept this.

“…I give up!” he announced clearly about to leave the stage, when he caught sight of Naruto’s questioning blue eyes. He sighed and explained, “I used up too much chakra doing all those shadow possessions in succession… I won’t be able to hold you for more than 10 seconds. So even though I’ve planned out around 200 moves, I think I’m out of time…” He walked towards the proctor and muttered, “And this fighting stuff is a drag… One match is enough for me.”

“Then…the winner is Temari!” the proctor announced thinking, _What a weird kid…_

Saying his part, Shikamaru calmly walked off the stage towards where the others were waiting. Temari watched him go, feeling conflicted about their match. She didn’t want to admit it, but she shouldn’t have won… _But if he’s out of chakra… I guess it’s okay._

“Aw man, I’m beat…” Shikamaru rolled his shoulders, tired from all his fight.

“Argh! What a waste! Why…? He could’ve become a Chunin!” Ino raged, miming strangling someone.

Choji just smiled, “Shikamaru’s Shikamaru.”

“Well, I still think Shikamaru gave up too early. What do you think?” Ino asked the other genin pointedly, not getting the response she wanted from Choji.

“Why’d he give up? Is he stupid or something? That really makes me mad!” Kiba yelled, back from the bathroom just in time to see Shikamaru forfeit and angry that he gave up his chance to become a Chunin even though he was so close. Akamaru barked, also showing his displeasure.

Naruto pushed up his sleeves and made a determined face, “I’m going to go give him a lecture he won’t ever forget!”

He clambered over the rail and leapt onto the arena as Shino warned, “Lecturing is difficult. One must not anger the audience.” The blonde nodded at the reminder to keep his talk with Shikamaru private, before heading towards the pineapple-haired boy.

“Oh well, it’s just like him,” Ino laughed, watching Naruto storm his way to Shikamaru. “Shikamaru always did whatever he wanted to…”

A Chunin sitting next to the genin decided to pipe in, “Well, at least he has more promise than Naruto to become a Chunin…” Only to be glared at by eight murderous stares and one jounin emitting killing intent. He shrunk back under the power of those stares wondering, _What’d I say?_

* * *

 

Over on the arena, Shikamaru stretched out his aching back when Naruto jabbed a finger at him and called out, “Stupid-head!”

“Shut it, Mega-dork!” he instantly shot back.

“Why’d you give up?! I _know_ you have more chakra than that,” the blonde accused, remembering all those times they’d trained together in practice matches. “There’s no way you ran out so soon!”

“At this point, what does it matter?” he grinned at Naruto, catching the blonde off guard. “Let’s go watch the next match, okay? I bet it’s going to end early,” he predicted, swinging his arm around Naruto’s shoulders and steering him to the rest of the genin.

“What? But, but, huh?” Naruto tilted his head up at Shikamaru, his eyes so lost he looked like a cute little kitten not knowing what was going on.

Shikamaru’s throat felt itchy, but suppressed the feeling and avoided Naruto’s gaze. “I’ll tell you about it after the next match,” he finally said.

“Okay,” Naruto reluctantly nodded and allowed Shikamaru to guide him back to the stands, placing him next to Gaara and quickly occupying the seat next to him.

The red-head merely raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru having overheard them. “So, you know?” he asked, as Naruto looked back and forth between the two.

The pineapple-haired boy sucked in a breath, realizing his suspicions were correct, “Yeah. I know.”

“Good.” Gaara said and then gestured at Naruto. “Keep him safe.” He didn’t want anything happening to the blonde and it relieved him to know that someone suspected what was about to happen.

“I don’t need you to tell me that…” Shikamaru coolly replied, turning back to the crowd as the proctor announced the next match.

“Would Aburame Shino and Kankuro come down to the arena, please?”

Kankuro glanced at Gaara and Temari, before raising his hand and saying, “I forfeit!” He figured the match was a waste of time, no matter what happened today. Besides, it was always good to have a trump card up his sleeve.

Shino, who had gotten up, sat back down, a dark cloud hanging over his head. _When will I ever get to fight?_ He thought aggrieved as his Kikaichu tried comforting him.

“Woah, how did you know that was going to happen?” Naruto demanded, turning back to Shikamaru.

“…You won’t believe me if I say it was a lucky guess, would you?” Shikamaru dryly responded, licking his lips as he tried to think of a way to explain this without anyone overhearing.

“Nope!” Naruto shook his head, waiting to hear what was going on.

“Remember that time in the hospital?” Shikamaru began explaining. “He said that today was going to be interesting, so something big must be happening today. Considering we saw Orochimaru in the Forest of Death… I figured there was going to be a big fight today…”

“My father, the one that isn’t stuck in my head, wants to attack Konoha during my match,” Gaara cut in, and then nodded at Shikamaru. “He seems to have suspected that Sand would attack today. That’s why he forfeited, to save chakra in case of a fight…” Naruto gaped at Gaara, who solemnly said, “But don’t be mistaken, my sister and I are against this plan. We have a way to stop the fighting before it begins, but I really, really hate our plan, so I’m hoping that he changes his mind and stops the attack… Otherwise…” Gaara grimaced.

Naruto swiveled around to look at the Kazekage, only to see him staring right at him and grinning. He shivered, as he saw the other man grin and use his long tongue to lick his lips. _Wait… long tongue?!_ Anxious, he stretched out his chakra to read the Kazekage’s chakra signature only to be blocked by a barrier. Frowning, he asked Kurama to get a read on him instead.

 _You’re right, Kit… That man isn’t the Kazekage, it’s Orochimaru in disguise._ Kurama scowled as he felt the snake-like chakra signature emitted out by the man. _You better warn your Hokage about this,_ he advised, not liking the idea of Naruto going near the Snake Sage, but knowing there was no other way to get the message across. After all, who’d believe a twelve-year old that the Kazekage was an imposter, and not just any imposter, but actually the infamous Snake Sage Orochimaru? Besides there could spies around that might overhear the blonde and decide to take him out… He wasn’t willing to risk that. At least with the Hokage there, Naruto would be safe…

“What’s wrong?” Shikamaru asked, seeing how pale Naruto’s face had gotten.

The blonde motioned for them to get closer. Both Gaara and Shikamaru leaned in to hear him say, “That dude, the Kazekage, he’s actually Orochimaru!” Naruto whispered fiercely.

Gaara’s eyebrows rose in astonishment. _Really? This made things more complicated… Looks like they now had no choice but to use the backup plan… Great…_

Shikamaru stiffly nodded, not daring to look at the Kage box in case someone might notice. “What now?” he wondered aloud, trying to think of a way to let the Hokage know.

Naruto stood up, a flinty glint in his eyes. “I’m going to go tell Jiji!”

Shikamaru grabbed ahold of the blonde’s arm and dragged him back down, hissing, “Are you crazy?! He’s in there with him! What if he decides to attack? You’ll just be in the way!”

“But… I have to do _something_ …” A wrinkled formed on his forehead as he looked up at Shikamaru desperately. He couldn’t just leave him there!

“Look,” Gaara interrupted. “I think Naruto’s right… My match is next and that’s when he plans to attack. If you’re going to tell the Hokage, you have to do it now. I’ll try to stall, but I can’t promise anything…”

He finished just as the proctor called out, “Will Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara come down to the arena?” Gaara looked pointedly at the two and walked down as slowly as he could to the match. He was going to delay it as far as he could.

Naruto and Shikamaru exchanged glances, before Shikamaru sighed and gave in. “Fine, but I’m coming with you!”

“Let’s go!” Naruto beamed at him and they both headed towards where the Hokage was seated. Halfway there, Naruto abruptly stopped and said, “Wait! The others! They don’t know what’s going on! You have to warn them!”

“What? I’m not going to leave you to do this by yourself!” Shikamaru argued heatedly. There was no way he was going to let Naruto confront Orochimaru and who knows who else all alone.

“But they need to know,” Naruto insisted. He wished he still had his bracelets to tell them quickly. Unfortunately, he had to turn those in to get his copyright on the seal. It’d take another few weeks before he got them back and could make new ones without anyone being able to steal/copy his design.

“Yeah, but…” Shikamaru faltered. He couldn’t deny that someone needed to tell the other jounin about Orochimaru and the planned invasion. _Though they already seem to know about the invasion…_ He figured, scanning the place and noticing the large amount of ANBU scattered everywhere.

Naruto was going to persuade Shikamaru to go, when a hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up and was surprised to see a familiar pale-skinned boy. “Sai!”

“You should go warn the others. I’ll make sure Naruto stays out of trouble,” he fake-smiled at Naruto’s friend, noting that the other boy still looked reluctant to leave.

“I’ll be alright. Sai’s strong, he can help me fight,” Naruto reassured and Shikamaru nodded reluctantly.

“Alright. You better not die!” he warned and yanked the blonde into a quick hug, before letting go and hurrying away, his ears red.

Naruto just stood there staring at his back, surprised that Shikamaru had hugged him. _That felt… sort of nice._ He thought dazedly, his face flushed.

Sai mentally jotted down Naruto’s reaction. _Strange, it appears wrapping your arms around someone can disable them for a short amount of time. How interesting, I must remember to try it out during our next sparring match._ Glancing at the arena, he shook off his thoughts and reminded, “We should be leaving now, if you wish to make it in time. The genin from Sand can only stall for so long before Orochimaru attacks…” Naruto snapped out of his trance and they both hurried towards the box.

* * *

 

Gaara vs. Sasuke: Best Friends vs. Brothers

“And, match start!” the proctor announced, hurrying out of the way of the two genin.

Gaara instantly encased Sasuke in his sand, preventing him from moving. He kneeled down and ignored the venomous gaze the raven-haired boy directed at him. “Listen, we need to stall...” He was about to continue, but Sasuke broke free from his restraints and attacked.

“I don’t know who you are, but I don’t care! Nothing’s going to stop our fight!” he glared at Gaara, thinking the red-head was lying.

Dodging the attack, Gaara spoke up again, “If you are truly Naruto’s best friend, then you’d hear me out.”

Sasuke lunged at Gaara, his eyes flashing red. “Shut up! Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?!” He raged, not believing the red-head at all. “If you’re trying to trick me, you can give up now. It’s not going to work!”

Gaara felt himself growing more and more pissed off the longer this ‘fight’ continued. If it wasn’t for the fact that his opponent was one of Naruto’s friends and that he needed to stall, he would’ve already ended this farce by now. What was with this idiot?! Could he not see that he was being serious? How could he just risk the safety of his self-proclaimed best friend like that?! He stared sharply at Sasuke and huffed. Well, if it was a fight he wanted, then a fight he’d get! Clenching his fist, he shot a stream of sand at the other boy, aiming for where he was dodging towards.

“You won’t catch me with just that!” Sasuke smirked as he flipped in mid-air and turned to appear behind Gaara, aiming for his head.

The red-head stepped out of the way of yet another barrage of punches and kicks, trying to calm himself down. _Remember, no killing Naruto’s friend…_ “Can’t you just listen to me for once?” he grumpily asked, sinking Sasuke’s feet into the ground, effectively trapping him.

The raven-haired boy just used kawarimi to switch positions and attacked again. “Stop talking and fight!” he grunted, rushing at Gaara to attack again.

The red-head glared at the Uchiha and used his sand to hover above him, deflecting the Kunai and shuriken aimed at him. No matter how annoying this was, he’d promised to stall, so stall he would...

Sasuke just fumed as he tried to think of a way to reach Gaara. _There must be something I can do…_ He thought, furiously trying to think up a plan.

 _Hey, why don’t you tear his head off, crack it open, and spill out his brains? Think of all the blood!_ Shukaku egged his jailor on.

 _Yeah, that’s not happening…_ Gaara deadpanned, ignoring his insane raccoon.

 _Aww, pretty please?_ Shukaku whined, but the red-head didn’t respond.

Seeing his opponent so annoyed, Gaara smirked and turned to look towards the Kage box. Orochimaru was signaling for him to start the invasion by releasing Shukaku, but he just ignored him. There was no way he was listening to an imposter that was wearing his father’s face! Not that he’d bother listening even if it was his father up there commanding him to release Shukaku... It wasn’t even possible anymore for him to do that with his new and improved seal blocking out that mad Tanuki from overtaking his body… Pretending to not have seen the signal, Gaara faced his opponent again. His eyes widened as he saw the raven-haired genin run up the wall and launch a kick at him. Waving his hand, he made his sand move to avoid the blow. _I can’t keep this up for much longer, it drains too much chakra… Guess I’ll have to use that…_ He lowered himself to the ground and encased himself in a sphere of sand, deciding to wait things out. _At least I’ll have an excuse as to why I didn’t see the signal…_

Sasuke eyed the ball of sand, but stepped closer when it didn’t move. He tried punching it, but his attack was ineffective. _It’s time to use that…_ The sound of chirping birds filled the arena as he aimed his lightning clad hand at the ball of sand. “Chidori!” Sasuke yelled, stabbing down and penetrating through sand shell. Grinning he tried to pull back, only to frown as his hand got stuck in the sand. Channeling some chakra, he ripped his hand free and stared at the hole he’d just made.

 _What? He actually broke through my ultimate defense!?!?! Well, I guess there was a reason Naruto said he was strong…_ Gaara grumbled, shaking off the sand as he brought down his sphere. _What else am I supposed to do to stall? I can’t keep pretending much longer…_ Ignoring Sasuke, the red-head glanced at the crowd and sighed in relief as he saw Naruto walking towards the Hokage. That relief turned into panic when he saw Orochimaru rip off his face and take the Hokage hostage and Shunshin away, neither of them noticing Naruto grab on and join them in the ensuing chaos. _Shit!_ He thought and hurriedly moved towards the Hokage box.

Only to stop as Sasuke blocked him. “I won’t let you leave!” he shouted aiming another Chidori at Gaara.

“I don’t have time for this!” The red-head made a hand of sand and swatted Sasuke away, sending him flying towards the wall, knocking him out. Ignoring the proctor, Gaara took off and headed towards the Kage box, his siblings and Baki joining him soon after.

“It’s started!” Baki proclaimed, seeing the falling feathers of the genjutsu scatter across the crowd. “We need to join the fight! Gaara, why haven’t you released Shukaku yet?”

“We’re not fighting, Baki,” Temari spoke calmly, ignoring her teacher’s shocked look. “We are stopping the fight! Gaara, are you ready?” she asked.

Gaara nodded, exiting the stadium and seeing Naruto trapped on top of a building by a barrier. He frowned, but reluctantly turned away, seeing there was nothing he could do. Seals weren’t his specialty, he had no way of breaking through the barrier. “Take me to where the most Suna shinobi are,” he commanded. _There’s no way I can help him now… All I can do now is my part of the plan._

* * *

 

Back to Naruto and Sai

“Just a little longer, we’re almost there,” Naruto muttered under his breath. He sped up as he saw Gaara struggling to stall.

Sai followed Naruto, also racing up to reach the Hokage before the invasion started. _Danzo didn’t say anything about an invasion… Did he know about this? Or was his information compromised by a spy? But if it was a spy… Just who could hide this from the rest of ROOT?_

“Okay, now I just need to tell Jiji about Orochimaru,” Naruto rubbed his hands together, about to enter the Kage box when all of a sudden, the Kazekage ripped off his face revealing Orochimaru! He swiftly took out a Kunai and held it to the Hokage’s throat. _Jiji!_ _I’ve got to save him!_ Naruto panicked, rushing forwards when he was blocked off by a white-haired ANBU agent.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot allow you to go in there Uzumaki-san,” the ANBU stopped him.

“What?! Why not? Jiji needs help!” Naruto scowled at the ANBU, itching to go and help his grandfather figure.

“Be that as it may, it is unsafe for a genin like yourself to enter this fight. Hokage-sama has commanded us to not let his fight be interrupted,” the ANBU responded.

Sai, noticing there was something off about the situation from his years spent as part of ROOT, stepped forwards and said, “How would he have commanded you to back off? He was being held hostage by Orochimaru. He had no time to give you any commands…” Naruto gaped as Sai continued voicing his doubts. “If anything, you should be helping the Hokage, not trying to stall us. Only an imposter would try to stop us,” he accused, smiling falsely at the suspicious ANBU.

“As you can see from my mask, I am no imposter,” the ANBU replied in a bland tone of voice.

“Then where’s your ANBU tattoo?” Sai asked, pointing at the ANBU’s bared shoulders. Naruto nodded, remembering Hiruzen’s many lectures on which ANBU he could trust. Each one of them had a specialized tattoo on their shoulder that marked them to be in the Hokage’s service. The guy in front of them had a mark on his upper arm, but it wasn’t on his shoulder and it didn’t contain the Third’s chakra signature, meaning he was an imposter!

 _I knew I was forgetting something…_ “Ah… I see that I am in a spot of trouble here. Looks like my disguise was for nothing…” he muttered, before removing his mask. “I’m afraid I cannot let you past!” he smirked at the ruffled blonde and stoic Root robot in front of him. “You’ll have to get past me before you can help the Hokage!”

“Kabuto!” Naruto snarled at the white-haired man blocking their path. He didn’t have time to waste on this poser!

“I see… So, you were the spy all along…” Sai realized, his hands already reaching for his supplies.

“What are you going to do about it?” Kabuto crossed his arms, still smirking at the two.

“We’re going to kick your butt! And then save Jiji!” Naruto yelled, glowering at him.

“Hmm, you can _try,_ but it doesn’t look like you have that much time left… Will you be able to beat me in time to save the Third? I may not look like it, but I _am_ ANBU-ranked…” Kabuto patronized them.

Naruto fisted his hands, clenching them tight enough to draw blood. He wanted to pound this annoying guy into the ground, but he had no time. He had to save Jiji! Noticing Naruto’s tension, Sai patted the blonde’s shoulder. “Leave this man to me, go after the Hokage! I can handle him by myself.”

Naruto wanted to refuse, but he knew he couldn’t. Instead, he made two shadow clones and slapped a durability seal on them. “Okay, but be safe. You better not die here!” Naruto threatened.

“I will, don’t worry. Now, hurry up and leave!” Sai responded and then engaged Kabuto in battle.

“You won’t be able to leave so easily!” Kabuto growled, stretching out his arms to catch ahold of the blonde genin, only to have a bunch of smoke-releasing stink bombs explode. “Urghh!” Kabuto grunted as he fell back, leaving Naruto an opening to escape.

“I won’t let you hurt Naruto!” Sai blocked him, a hard glint in his eyes. Kabuto shuddered, recognizing that determined look appear in the large female following of Sasuke Uchiha. _I wonder if fanboys are just as bad as fangirls…?_ He pondered briefly, before focusing on the fight. Years later he found out the answer: _Fanboys, fangirls, it doesn’t matter which, both are rabid when it comes to the protection of Uzumaki Naruto!_

* * *

 

The Hokage and his Student

“I thought this day would come… However, my head won’t come off so easily!” Hiruzen stood strong, as if there wasn’t a Kunai held to his throat.

“I thought I told you to hurry up and name the Fifth Hokage! Because the Third is going to die right here!” Orochimaru smirked wickedly, his long tongue lolling out the corner of his mouth.

Naruto ignored the commotion and crept closer to the pair. _Kurama, can you make it so they can’t sense me?_

 _You got it, Kit…_ The nine-tailed fox nodded, masking Naruto’s chakra signature with his own before making both undetectable. _It’s done…_ The Kyuubi frowned, feeling the rapid drain on the blonde’s chakra. He didn’t like that Naruto was putting himself in danger for someone who was way stronger than him, but he knew that no matter what he said the stubborn blonde wouldn’t listen. The only thing he could do to protect him now was to watch carefully and shield his Kit from the inside. _Remember to summon me if you’re in danger,_ he urged.

 _Thanks, Kurama! Don’t worry, I’ll call you if anything bad happens!_ Utilizing the hiding skills he got from years of pranks, Naruto crept up to the Kage box and grabbed onto the Hokage’s robe right before Orochimaru shunshined them outside to the roof.

Once they reached the rooftop, the Snake Sage commanded his underlings, “Set up the barrier. Now!” Following his orders, the Sound Four erected a barrier, trapping everyone inside.

* * *

 

Outside, the ANBU were tense as they stood in a long line and surveyed the barrier. Only one of them had tried breaching it, only to be burnt on contact.

“It’s quite a crowd…” Kakashi mused as he crouched on the stands beside Gai. At the first signs of the Temple of Nirvana Technique, the jounin-sensei had quickly left the viewing platform and made their way to their genin. Now, they were gauging the situation and awaiting orders. As a former ANBU commander, Kakashi was the most fit to make decisions in the Hokage’s absence. They trusted the white-haired man to assign them tasks to protect the village along with their genin.

“That’s not all… There’s something even worse,” Gai furrowed his bushy eyebrows together and stared out the window. Kakashi quirked his eyebrow at Gai, wondering what could be worse. “Look over toward the roof of the central viewing tower.”

“That’s…!” Kakashi’s eyes widened when he followed Gai’s directions. “A barrier ninjutsu!”

“Kakashi, look closely, inside the barrier,” Gai said gravely.

Kakashi nodded and was about to use look closer when he was interrupted by Shikamaru. “You—huff—have to—puff—save him!” he panted, his hands on his knees.

“Save who?” Sakura asked, having already thrown off the genjutsu.

“Naruto!” Shikamaru practically yelled, having finally caught his breath. “We found out that the Kazekage was actually Orochimaru in disguise and that he was going to invade Konoha during the exam. Naruto refused to let me go with him and went after the Hokage to tell him what was going on. We have to go help him!”

“What?!” Kakashi heart skipped a beat as he turned to look at the barrier and saw the Hokage, Orochimaru…and a little blonde genin in an orange jumpsuit. Sucking in a breath, he forced himself to calm down before he did something stupid like racing off to the barrier without any plans. “Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do,” Kakashi spoke sharply, his usual lazy drawl abandoned. Sakura shivered. She’d never seen her sensei look so serious before. Not even when Zabuza attacked was he like this… “Sakura, you and Shikamaru are going to help wake up the other genin here. I want you to go with Kiba and Shino and take Sasuke to the hospital. He’s out cold and with the impact of that hit, I doubt he’s going to wake up anytime soon… After checking him in, protect the hospital from any invaders and do your best to heal everyone.”

“Yes sensei!” Sakura nodded. She could do this! She wasn’t the useless fangirl anymore. It was her turn to protect her teammates this time around! She wouldn’t fail them like she had in the forest.

“Shikamaru,” Kakashi turned to the pineapple haired boy and spoke, “I want you to take Ino and Choji and go after Gaara. He’s—”

“Gaara isn’t part of the invasion. He’s trying to stop it,” Shikamaru quickly interrupted. Seeing the disbelief on everyone’s faces, he justified, “He was the one who told us about the invasion in the first place. Besides, he’s Naruto’s _brother_. There’s _no way_ he’d do anything that could potentially hurt that troublesome blonde.”

Assimilating this information, Kakashi nodded and adjusted his plans. “Alright. Take your team and go to protect the academy. Don’t worry about Naruto, I’ll go after him myself.” After relaying the commands to the genin, Kakashi addressed the jounin-sensei, “Kurenai, Gai, go to the hospital with them. Asuma, go to the academy with your team. Iruka should be there too. He’ll help you protect the children… There are enough ANBU here to protect the crowd. I’m going to go see what I can do about the barrier.” With that, everyone split off and went to their assigned locations.

Kakashi’s heart thudded as he neared the barrier. Although he issued out commands coolly, he was anything but calm. The thought of his precious little student stuck in a barrier with arguably the two strongest ninja here was giving him a mini panic attack. Catching a glimpse of that bight blonde hair flashing in the barrier, he held his breath as Naruto interrupted the fight. He released it in relief when the Third pushed Naruto behind him. _Narutooooooo! What are you doing?! Don’t aggravate ninja that can kill you in the blink of an eye!!! You’re going to give me a heart attack at this rate!_ Reaching the barrier, he winced as he saw a burnt ANBU standing near it. He studied it and groaned as he recognized the Four Violet Flames Formation.

“Can you break it?” Bird asked Kakashi, knowing that the other man had a background in seals. The ANBU captain was sure his former captain could think of a way to dismantle the barrier.

Kakashi shook his head no, “I don’t know enough about seals to reverse the barrier.” _If only Naruto or Jiraiya was here…_ Shaking his head clear, Kakashi tried remembering what he knew about this seal. _Wait! Minato-sensei mentioned this seal before! If I remember correctly, he said that the only way to dismantle the seal is to use a layered barrier talisman with the same resonance frequencies as the barrier. Apparently, it works off of the Barrier Gate Five Seals Technique: Castle Closing Eight Gates, which uses a seal that has the same frequency of the barrier to enter it. If I can make one that resonates with this barrier, then I can attack one of the ninja holding it up to make it collapse!_ With renewed determination, Kakashi began deciphering the barrier, trying to find out its frequency.

“You found something?” Bird asked, seeing Kakashi’s renewed burning spirit.

“Yeah, I might be able to break it. Give me 45—no, 30 minutes and I’ll have it cracked!” Kakashi spoke with resolve. He would break down this damned barrier in the next half hour, and there was nothing that could stop him!

“We’re counting on you,” Bird nodded and let the masked-jounin work.

* * *

 

Back to the Belly of the Barrier

“Are you just overjoyed, or is it…” Hiruzen began, but was cut off by Orochimaru stabbing down with his Kunai. He didn’t even blink when he saw that the Snake Sage had pierced his own hand. “Or is it that you actually possess some regret at the thought of killing your teacher and mentor?”

To the ANBU’s surprise, Orochimaru actually had a tear in his eye. “There… That feels better,” he grinned, releasing Hiruzen and waving around his bloody hand.

 _What feels better? Don’t tell me that he’s not just a pedophile, but also a masochist?!_ Naruto thought in disbelief, as the Kyuubi snorted.

 _Oh Kit… If only everyone knew what you were thinking…_ He snickered at what the Snake Sage would do if Naruto called him out on his supposed masochistic tendencies.

“Nah… I’m just a bit sleepy… Some tears welled up as I yawned, that’s all…” the Snake Sage denied, ignoring the throbbing pain in his chest. _Must be time to change bodies again…_ He dismissed as he moved away from Hiruzen.

“Exactly as I expected…” the Hokage shook his head. “I know you’re not a man to be moved by hatred…You have neither the motives nor purpose.”

“Hmmm? Actually, I do have purpose. Well, to put it simply… I enjoy watching moving objects. It’s boring when things stand still, _don’t you agree?_ ” He sneered at Hiruzen, throwing off Rasa’s cloak and hat. “A motionless pinwheel isn’t worth watching… Then again, when it’s stopped it can be sentimental too… Either way, I want to make the pinwheel _spin_ _with the_ _destruction of Konoha_ _right now…_ ”

“Humph, you haven’t changed a bit…” Sarutobi smirked at him, seeing traces of his former student. Orochimaru never was one to sit still…

 _Pinwheels, pinwheels, and pinwheels… Is that all this guy can talk about?_ Naruto ranted in his head as the Kyuubi sniggered. _Man, I feel sorry for Jiji if Orochimaru hasn’t changed at all… It must be tough being stuck with a masochistic pedophile that loves pinwheels… I can already see the conversations: Orochimaru, don’t let that guy attack you! Stop stalking children, Orochimaru_! _“Urghh, for the last time, I don’t care about pinwheels Orochimaru!!!”_ He accidentally said the last one aloud, stunning the other two into silence. Both aged shinobi were shocked to see that Naruto had tagged along with them without anyone noticing!

 _Just what are they teaching academy students these days?_ Orochimaru thought, intrigued as he stared at the blonde genin who was oblivious to the sudden attention.

 _What? Naruto? How did he even get here?! I must be getting old if he was able to slip past me…_ Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his forehead to stave off his impending headache. _Maybe I should start looking for the next Hokage…_

 _Kit, KIT! They noticed you!_ Kurama warned the blonde knucklehead, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Oops…?” Seeing everyone as still staring at him, he nervously spoke again, “Um... Your pinwheel thing was great! You should totally go back to talking about that and ignore me because I’m… a distraction?”  Before Orochimaru could respond, Naruto yelled, “Take this! Orioke no Jutsu: New Sexy Technique – Otokonoko Version!”

Orochimaru could only gape as Naruto Henged into a devil version of Sasuke holding a whip. _What? You can use Henge that way?! I must learn this secret technique for research—I mean, to learn all the Jutsu of the world!_ He backtracked, as the word ‘research’ reminded him of his ex-teammate’s perversion. And he was not a pervert, no matter what everyone else said about him! He refused to be put upon the same level as that moron!

The ANBU just gawked at the spectacle, wondering if that actually just happened. _Wait… Wasn’t that the same technique that downed the Third?!_ They looked at Naruto with respect. If the blonde could devise a Jutsu that could stop two powerful ninja in their tracks, just what could he do when he was older?

Expecting Naruto to pull something like this the moment he saw that mischievous grin on the blonde’s face, Hiruzen made use of the interruption to summon Enma. Together, they mounted a sneak attack on Orochimaru.

Unfortunately, the Snake Sage dodged. Even when distracted, he could still pull off an escape. He was a member of the Sannin after all…

The Third pulled back, gently placing Naruto behind him. There was no way he was letting a _genin_ get hurt in this fight. Especially when said genin was practically his surrogate grandson! “Orochimaru,” Hiruzen growled as Naruto peeked at the fight from behind his Jiji.

The Snake Sage turned to face his once teacher and tipped his head mockingly, “Hiruzen…”

“Don’t bring children into our fight! I would’ve taken care of you a long time ago if I knew you were going to pull off something like this…” the Third glared at Orochimaru, mistakenly believing that the Snake Sage had purposefully brought Naruto here so that he wouldn’t be able to go all out.

Feeling a pang in his heart from once again being blamed for something he didn’t do, Orochimaru growled, “You think _I_ brought him here?!” He scowled, not bothering to correct Hiruzen’s incorrect beliefs. He knew no one would believe him anyways… “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. I could care less about what you think! Besides the blonde is intriguing. I don’t mind him being here.” He leered at Naruto who shrieked.

“I knew you were a masochistic pedophile who’s after Sasuke!” the genin accused as the ANBU face-palmed. Orochimaru looked more amused than murderous, if a touch bewildered. Just where were these baseless accusations coming from? As if reading his thoughts, Naruto immediately explained, “You said I’m intriguing and I’m Henged like Sasuke with a whip… I knew you had issues, but I never knew they were this bad… You’re just as perverted as Ero-sennin,” he muttered the last part, but everyone still heard him with their enhanced senses.

Hearing this, Orochimaru couldn’t help but get angry. “Don’t compare me to that buffoon! _I am nowhere near as perverted as him_!” he hissed. Just why did everyone compare him to that moron? Why did everyone think that he was a pervert but not see that Jiraiya was just as, if not more, perverted? So what if he couldn’t write as well as him? He was stronger than that Toad-loving fool. He even had a village and was a Kage! _Hah! Beat that, Jiraiya!_ He thought smugly.

“Yeah, I don’t buy it. You _marked_ Sasuke because you _wanted his body!_ If that’s not perverted, I don’t know what is…” Naruto just looked at Orochimaru with skepticism. A look that was echoed by the ANBU crowd. The Snake Sage grinded his teeth together. Why did no one ever believe him when he told them he wasn’t a pervert?

Ignoring the ongoing chaos _(he’d always suspected that Orochimaru had an issue with morality…)_ , the Hokage launched the Shadow Shuriken Doppelganger Technique at Orochimaru while signaling for Enma to cover Naruto.

The Snake Sage didn’t disappoint and immediately performed, “Kuchiyose: Edotensei! Summoning: Reanimation!”

Three coffins shot out of the roof, labeled as: The First, the Second, and the Fourth. _Don’t tell me…! Could he really be raising those spirits…?!_ Hiruzen quickly ran through a few hand signs, rushing to disturb the summoning process, but only managed to stop the last tomb. _Damnit!_ He cursed as the creaked open revealing the First and Second Hokage.

“Woah! Who’re they?” Naruto asked, gawking at the corpses stepping out of their coffins.

“Do you mean to tell me that you can’t recognize the illustrious founders of Konoha?” Orochimaru mocked as he slapped a seal onto the First and Second Hokage.

“What? I thought they were long dead! And wasn’t that technique lost a long time ago?” Naruto gaped at them, while Hiruzen’s face became unusually grave. “They’re not zombies, are they? I better summon Shin, he’ll know what’s going on…” the last sentence was murmured too quietly for anyone to catch, except for Enma who was standing right next to the blonde.

 _Shin?_ Enma looked at Naruto with curiosity. _Does he have a summoning contract?_ He stared at the genin, wondering what he was going to do, but doubting it would make a difference in a fight between two opponents that both vastly outclassed the blonde.

Channeling his chakra, Naruto pushed some into the seal that held the Death God Mask. _Yo, Shin, you coming?_

 _Oh, is it already your turn?_ Shin asked, materializing in front of Naruto and Enma.

The Monkey King’s jaw dropped open at the man in front of him. _He’s not a summons! How did he get through the barrier?! That’s impossible!_ He denied, not believing his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Shin asked, seeing that they weren’t in the arena anymore. Naruto was supposed to summon him right before his match, but by the looks of it, things seemed a lot more complicated than just having the Chunin Exams.

“Orochimaru made the First and Second Hokage come back to life without using the mask! Is he allowed to do that? How’d he even find out how to do it, I thought all that information was long gone?” Naruto asked, frowning at the battle between Hiruzen and the two Hokage.

Shin glanced at the battle and made a disapproving clicking noise. “Tch, he must’ve used Edotensei. He probably worked backwards to remake it. That technique has been a pain in the ass ever since that damned Tobirama made it…” He scowled before smiling vindictively, “But I got my revenge on him for it. Whenever someone uses it, I make him do _all_ the paperwork for it. And it creates _a lot_.”

Enma shuddered. He didn’t know who the man in front of him was, but he could feel the death energy radiating off of him. The last time he felt this aura was back when the Kyuubi had attacked Konoha and the Fourth was forced to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal that called the… Shinigami! Wide-eyed, he watched ‘Shin’ ruffle Naruto’s hair and say he’d take care of things, before disappearing into the shadows.

 _“_ Who is _that?!”_ Enma demanded of Naruto, who just smiled serenely at him.

“That’s my friend, Shin! Gami E. Shin,” the blonde replied.

 _Gami E. Shin? Wait… Shin E. Gami, Shin-E-Gami, Shinigami?!?!?!?!?!_ “How did you even meet him?!” The child was going to give him a heart attack. What the heck was he thinking, making friends with the Death god?!?!?! Sweating, the monkey rubbed his forehead. He knew that only trouble would come from the Uzumaki and the Fourth procreating… With their penchants for getting into trouble _(no matter what they were doing_ ) and their ( _abnormal_ ) ability to befriend almost anything, a child of the two was a disaster waiting to happen… Fortunately, the little rascal seemed to be possessed by Lady Luck, with the way he left the ridiculous situations he got into unscathed. Point in case: the blonde was _somehow_ in the midst of a battle between the _most powerful_ _ninja_ _in Konoha_ and the _Death God_ said he’d _help out_ … He could just see the child going out for a bite of Ramen ( _with those two as parents, there’s no way the blonde couldn’t like Ramen_ ) and accidentally meeting a Kage from another country in disguise, somehow averting a nation-wide war… ( _Which incidentally did happen, although it was a Daimyo instead of a Kage…_ )

Seeing Enma’s constipated look, Kurama felt empathetic. _Give it up old monkey. There’s no way to convince the knucklehead that this was a bad idea. Sage knows I tried…_ There was no way the blonde even remotely considered that befriending the _fricking Death God,_ of all entities, was possibly dangerous. _For Kami’s sake, he even threatened him on their first meeting!_ Then again, he couldn’t really say much seeing as he _was_ the Kyuubi, the Biju known for his mass destruction of Konoha, and the blonde had almost no hesitation to befriending _him_ … But even _he_ knew that the Shinigami was not someone you could casually become friends with. _Not that it made a difference to the blonde menace…_ Kurama thought fondly, his tails swaying in affection.

Naruto watched Shin appear next to the two revived Kage and shove his hands through their chests. “Return!” he shouted, ripping the souls out of their mortal bodies. “I’ll be back later,” he directed at Naruto. He wasn’t too worried about the blonde. The genin wasn’t scheduled to die anytime soon. So, unless Fate radically changed something (which she couldn’t do without discussing with him), the blonde would stay safe. “I need to head over to the pure world and get these two back to where they belong…and assign some _paperwork_ ” his eyes flashed mischievously when he said the last part. Seeing Naruto nod at him, Shin wrapped himself in shadows and left. _I can’t wait to give Tobirama all the paperwork his fight created! Maybe I’ll even add in some of my less important paperwork…_ He thought sadistically.

Enma was still too shocked at what had just happened to even move. It took Naruto prodding the Monkey King before he was able to reform any thoughts again. “Hey, you should go help Jiji. He’d _never_ let me help him out, but _you_ can still help him. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be safe,” he promised. Seeing the sincerity in those his wide blue eyes, Enma couldn’t help but stiffly nodding. Somehow, he knew that the blonde would be alright. Looking back one last time at the smiling blonde, he left to join Hiruzen in the battle against his student.

“I wish I could help,” Naruto watched the battle in concern. Jiji was getting old and it didn’t look like he could fight for much longer…

 _Kit, there’s nothing you can do. You’d only be in the way…_ Kurama pacified, sending his chakra to soothe the blonde’s agitated system. _If you really want to help them, why don’t you work on taking down this barrier? I’ve noticed that your teacher has only gotten a fourth of the way through. With you helping, it should be a lot faster…_ He suggested as Naruto perked up and wandered towards where Kakashi was standing in front of the barrier. Waving at the masked-jounin, Naruto signed that he would help and for Kakashi to show him what he’d done so far. The white-haired jounin held up his work and Naruto unsealed a paper, quickly copying it down and making adjustments where he saw fit. At the rate the two were working, it’d only take another ten more minutes before the inner barrier came down.

They never noticed an ANBU eyeing them ominously…

* * *

 

It’s the Early Bird that gets the Worm, but it’s the Toad that gets the Snake!

“Shit! We’re not going to make it! That snake’s just ripping everything apart! It’ll reach the village soon if we don’t stop it!” A panicked jounin rubbed his forehead, trying to think of a way to stop the Snake Summons, but coming up with nothing.

“Grr… This is out of control,” Ibiki growled, watching the snake thrash upon the ground, smashing a few ninja into the trees.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Mayhem Technique!” a voice rang out as a toad the size of the Hokage Monument dropped upon the snake, making it cough up blood.

“This technique…” Ibiki covered his face from the dust, finally feeling a small bit of hope rising. _Could it be…?_

Spiky white-hair flowed down the strong back of the man in front of them. He was carrying a scroll on his back, surveying his surroundings. “Ibiki… Long time no see! Sheesh! Is that hulking bulk of yours the only thing that’s matured?”

“Lord Jiraiya…” Ibiki didn’t know what to say. He still couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“Lord Jiraiya?” the jounin from earlier asked in disbelief. “As in one of the three great Shinobi?!”

“I couldn’t just keep watching!” Jiraiya made his signature pose, flashing the remaining snakes a wide grin. “You baby chicks! Open wide those beady little eyes of your and watch closely. Thank the heavens because here comes the unorthodox ninja sage Jiraiya! He’s here to run amok among all the otherworldly creatures!”

The snakes quivered. They’d seen what the Toad Sage had done to their brethren.  The crazy man had crushed their strongest like a worm! There was no way they wanted to end up in the same position! _Mommy, I want to go home!!!_ A smaller snake whimpered. If snakes could pee, they’d be wetting their pants…their bellies right now.

“Yonder snakes trapped by my toad’s stare, begone!” Jiraiya bellowed, watching as the snakes were forcefully recalled. _So it’s begun, eh, Orochimaru?_ Dropping down next to Ibiki, he asked, “Where’s the Third?”

The skilled shinobi answered promptly, “The examination area, sir!”

“…I see,” Jiraiya frowned. _Don’t you dare die old man…_ He had a gut feeling that something horrible was going to happen…

But was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar voice. “Jiraiya! Stop dropping me on people!” Gamabunta raged. “I told you the next time this happened, I was going to make _you_ feel how it is to be dropped onto someone! Hey, where are you going—Get back here! I’m not done with you yet, you ninny!”

Jiraiya didn’t even stop to hear the Toad’s rants. He just kept on running. There was no way he was sticking around for whatever Gamabunta deemed as ‘punishment’! The last time he was ‘punished’, he’d had to buy out three whole candy stores and one liquor store to make up for it! His poor wallet couldn’t handle the burden of feeding the Toad when his cute little student had already cleaned him out earlier this week. The blonde was a bottomless stomach. He still didn’t know where all the Ramen went. Then again, with parents like those… Before he could continue on this topic any longer, Jiraiya tripped and felt a tongue wrap around him. _Shit! He caught me!_ He gulped as he saw the menacing grin on the Toad Boss’s face. _I knew something bad was going to happen today…_ He thought, resigning himself to his fate.

* * *

 

Hiruzen Sarutobi Must Die!

Kinoto watched as that traitor Hatake and the blonde brat were deciphering the barrier. If he had his way, that barrier would never be taken down.

 _‘Your job is to assassinate Hiruzen Sarutobi to pave the way for the new Hokage: Me!’_ Danzo-sama’s directions from that day years ago echoed in his head. It was the day he’d failed all thanks to that man.

He would never forgive Kakashi Hatake for betraying Danzo-sama’s trust. That awful night would forever be seared into his brain. He had failed Danzo-sama. He deserved to be discarded... But, Danzo-sama didn’t care. He allowed him to remain in his wondrous presence even though he didn’t deserve it. He didn’t even blame him for losing to that damnable Hatake for the second time when he was tasked to retrieve his Sharingan!

But now, he had a chance to make Danzo-sama’s dreams come true! All he had to do was ‘fix’ the seals they were working on. Then, none of the ANBU would be able to help the Hokage battle Orochimaru. And with the Third’s advanced age, it would take next to no time for him to fall to his student. Then they could ‘persuade’ the council to call a vote of no-confidence and boot him out of the spot of Hokage!

The best part about this was that he had the perfect alibi! Everyone knew he was a Juinjutsu specialist, which meant he knew way more about sealing than those two amateurs ever would. Hatake was only a lowly Seal Expert. He had no way of telling whether or not he was actually right or wrong. The only way to tell would be if the brat was a Seal Master or something, which honestly wasn’t very likely…

If he caused big enough of a disaster, the Third might even get distracted and finally be killed off! Maybe Orochimaru would even take care of the blonde nuisance while he was at it. Then, they’d finally be able to take control of the Kyuubi and seal it into one of their more… _trusted_ members.

Walking over to the white-haired jounin, Kinoto struggled not to attack him. If it weren’t for the masked-jounin, they would’ve succeeded in taking out the Third that day and Danzo-sama would’ve already been on the throne by now… Gripping his hands tightly in his pockets, he forced himself to speak in a neutral tone. “May I see what you are working on? I have a mastery in Juinjutsu and might be able to crack the code.”

“Ah, I think we’re fine on our own… But thanks for the offer,” Kakashi refused bluntly. Something was incredibly off about the man, making his senses go into overdrive as he tried to remember where he knew him from. The only thing he could recall was that their meeting wasn’t a good one.

“I insist. Allow me to help take down the barrier. I’ve had years of experience,” he smiled genially, or at least tried to. Those self-help books Danzo-sama had given him weren’t really that helpful…

Meanwhile, as the Root ANBU reminisced, alarms were going off in Kakashi’s head. If the other man knew how to take down the barrier, why didn’t he offer his help earlier? Why now when they were almost finished? It was rather suspicious of him to show interest in them this late. _Could he be a spy…?_

He was startled out of his thoughts when Naruto yelled out, “I’m done! Check it out!” The blonde then proceeded to show them both the completed version of the seal.

Before Kakashi could do anything, Kinoto exclaimed, “That’s great! Why don’t we test it out!” He then proceeded to make the hand signs to activate the seal.

Naruto’s blue eyes widened as he saw only half of the seal activate and cancel out all of the inner barriers. He gulped. This was not good…

Kakashi watched in growing horror as the man performed the hand signs to remove the inner barriers of the Sound Four, who were all at least jounin level. Even _he_ would have trouble beating them! And now Naruto had to face tham all by himself?!

“Why didn’t it work?” Kinoto asked, feigning confusion. Internally he was feeling smug for pulling it off.

“Because you only did the version for the inner barriers!” Kakashi growled through his gritted teeth. “Now we have to wait until all of them are defeated to remove the outer barrier!”

“Oh… That’s too bad…” Kinoto shrugged. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out…”

“You shouldn’t have interfered in the first place!” Kakashi hissed, emitting killing intent. “For your sake, I hope Naruto gets out of this unhurt. _Otherwise, I’m going to hunt you down and make you_ _wish_ _this had never happened!_ ”

Kinoto just remained silent. No matter what the copy-nin did to him, he’d never regret helping out his precious Danzo-sama.

* * *

 

Sakon watched the inner barrier protecting him melt away. _Oi, Ukon, what’s going on?_

 _It appears that the trash has used a seal to take down the inner barrier…_ Ukon replied.

 _We must stop him! We can’t let him take it down!_ Sakon thought back. _But… How to stop him? If someone’s not holding up the barrier, won’t it fall?_

 _…This is why they have the saying ‘Wise older brother, foolish younger brother’._ Ukon thought back in fond exasperation. _Can’t you feel it? The seal somehow made it so that we’re connected to the outer barrier even if we move around._

 _Ohhh… Hey!_ Sakon indignantly replied.

 _Go meet up with the others, so we can take out the trash!_ Ukon commanded.

 _Aww, but I wanted to go and finish him off!_ Sakon whined.

 _There's no time for games, Sakon._ Ukon scolded, as Sakon neared the rest of the Sound Four.

 _I know._ Sakon grumbled but listened to his older brother.

They never realized this would be the last fight they ever fought.

* * *

 

 _Shit!_ Kurama cursed as he saw the four shinobi who were holding up the barrier walk towards Naruto. _Kit, why don’t you summon me?_ He suggested, wanting to be able to protect Naruto incase anything went wrong.

 _That’s a great idea! Let me summon both of you!_ Naruto grinned and went through the hand signs to summon them.

 _Wait! Kit, I don’t think that’s a great idea—_ Kurama began but was cut off when he was summoned into the real world. Coughing from the smoke, he looked up and saw Gamamaru had landed upon the fat barrier-holder with orange hair. _Well, that’s one way of getting rid of them…_ He sweat-dropped when Gamamaru shrunk down into his human version and stepped on the ninja he’d just flattened.

Jirobo groaned, he felt like that one time when Sakon had ‘accidentally’ dropped his Rashomon upon him after he’d eaten his lunch. He tried to shakily stand up, but found that none of his limbs were moving the way he wanted them to. His last thought before becoming unconscious was, _I wish I’d eaten at that Ramen place…_

Naruto tensed, not understanding why he suddenly felt companionship with the ninja that Gamamaru had landed upon. He shook his head, dismissing his feelings as tiredness. He was still a little drained from summoning three times in a row, but that wouldn’t stop him from kicking their butts!

Kurama stood lazily, appraising the ninja in front to see which one of them was the biggest threat. “Gamamaru, you take on the white-haired one, while I’ll take on the one with spiky-hair.” Gamamaru nodded and they both went off to fight their respective opponents.

Kurama cracked his fists. _This was going to be fun~!_

* * *

 

 _That means I have to fight the girl…_ Naruto thought, already forming the hand sign needed for his signature jutsu.

Tayuya scoffed, slipping into her Level 1 cursed form. She didn’t need her Level 2 form to deal with this worm. As if this midget could beat her! Using her flute, she started playing The Chains of Fantasia.

Naruto’s breathing became labored as the genjutsu took effect, his clones dispelling at the first signs of the genjutsu, hitting him with multiple memories of being bound and burned. It felt like a bunch of ropes were wrapped around him and then pulled tight as someone tried melting off his flesh. He gritted his teeth together, ignoring the pain and pulled against the ropes.

“Give it up! No one has survived the sound of my flute!” Tayuya mocked, confident in her abilities. She’d read the reports, and according to them, the worm sucked at dispelling genjutsu.

Normally Naruto would get around this weakness by relying on Kurama to shock him out of it. But, Kurama was outside of him today, fighting that other shinobi. So, he was on his own. Ignoring the scorching sensation of his skin dripping off, Naruto yanked at his bindings with all his strength, grinning as he heard one snap.

“How are you doing this?!” Tayuya raged, not understanding how the midget was manipulating her genjutsu. People were usually in too much pain to even bother trying to break free from their constraints. But that didn’t stop Naruto. He was used to pain. It only gave him another reason to try harder.

He tugged at the ropes once more and finally yanked himself free, breaking the genjutsu manually. At once, he unsealed two earplugs and stuffed them into his ears so he couldn’t hear anything. He figured since the girl didn’t do anything other than play her flute, the genjutsu must’ve come from the sound.

Tayuya scowled, not having thought that the blonde would’ve figured it out so quickly. Focusing on her anger, she transformed into her Level 2 cursed form. “For an idiot like you, understanding the complexity of my melody isn't too bad. But there is no way that you can completely comprehend this song. I'll play you a melody of death!” She yelled and then summoned her Doki, three ten-foot tall Rage Ogres that had their mouths sewn shut.

Naruto’s jaw dropped open as he saw the three angry demons in front of him. _What are those?_ He wondered in morbid curiosity, almost forgetting that they were fighting. Jumping out of the way of a club that was three times as big as him, he rolled and made more Kage Bunshin. “Listen, here’s what we’re going to do…” The clones huddled together to listen to his plan.

* * *

 

“Come out, come out, wherever you are, little rat,” Temari called out, giggling as one of her Doki smashed another piece of fallen debris. Leaving the search to her summons, Tayuya surveyed the battlefield. The Third, Enma, and Orochimaru were still fighting, while Jirobo was lying on the ground looking like a dead fish. _Always knew he was useless waste of space…_ She sneered at her teammate and turned away to see how the others were doing. Kidomaru was flat on the floor in a growing puddle of blood, a red-head standing next to him. Sakon and Ukon were knocked out by the frogman that had squished Jirobo before. _Shitty weak scum of teammates!_ She cursed, redoubling her efforts to find the brat. Those two summons were definitely stronger than her. If she took the brat hostage, she could force them to stop fighting. Either way, she had to finish this fight and fast!

* * *

 

Flicking the blood off his clawed hands, Kurama moved towards where he sensed Naruto was, only to be stopped by a Doki with needles stuck in its head like a pincushion. He growled at the figure blocking him. He didn’t have much chakra left over. Naruto had used almost half his chakra to summon the Shinigami and let it stay so long. He used another third of his chakra to summon both him and Gamamaru, making them only have enough chakra to stay for about twenty minutes without using it. He’d already used up five minutes of it in the battle, and had stayed for about ten minutes, meaning he only had about five minutes left over. Gamamaru, that stupid frog, got excited and used up all his chakra in his haste to help out Naruto, causing him to be recalled, as he forgot he could use his own chakra to stay behind. Narrowing his eyes at the Doki in front of him, Kurama measured that he had enough chakra to make one more move before dissipating. _Ok, got to make this one count!_ He drew back his clawed arm and scratched at the air, sending an air slice that cleaved through two of the Doki. Now only Tayuya and one another Doki remained. Satisfied that he’d protected his Kit, he allowed himself to be recalled.

* * *

 

Naruto and his clones threw themselves at the Doki with the club. “Attack! 100-punch-combo!” Naruto yelled as 100 of his clones aimed a punch at the Doki. Unfortunately, it didn’t even phase it. “100-wind-bullet!” Naruto shouted out the next part of his plan. The Doki roared as cuts appeared all over him. Unfortunately, even 100 wind bullets barely hurt him! Naruto scowled and signaled to his clones to begin the last part of his plan. They chained themselves into a loop and threw Naruto at the Doki. Making another shadow clone, Naruto dodged the club and used another shadow clone to launch himself at the Doki’s behind. He only had one shot at this. “1000 Years of Death-Naruto style!” he yelled and plunged a Kunai up the Doki’s ass. This, the Doki definitely felt. He swung his club at the clones, dispelling them into smoke and grabbed Naruto with his one free hand, trapping him against the roof of the outer barrier.

Kakashi panicked as he saw Naruto’s face turning blue. _No!_ He thought, wishing he could help out.

Kinoto smirked. Did the blonde really think shoving a Kunai up an Ogre’s butt would stop it? Humph, good riddance!

Tayuya grinned, planning to take out the blonde scum before he could do any more damage. “Revolt of the Demon World!” she yelled out as a materialized spirit flew out of the Doki’s mouth towards Naruto.

He made a face as he saw the creepy blob fish with piranha teeth wriggling towards him. _Gross…_ He thought, not at all panicking. Instead he yelled, “Explode!” He shut his eyes as the Kunai inside the Doki detonated sending bits flying everywhere. Flipping as he fell, he landed in a crater, smirking ferally at the red-head as chunks of meat rained down from the sky.

Tayuya stared at the scene before her in disbelief. Just where did it all go wrong? Kinoto silently agreed with her wondering why the blonde brat was so hard to kill.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was relieved to see his little bundle of joy safe on the ground. Now all he had to do was defeat Tayuya and then he’d be able to take down the barrier. _You can do it, Naruto!_

Naruto grinned, happy to see his plan to take down the Doki had worked. So, caught up in his fight with the Doki, he didn’t notice that the shadow clone Tayuya secretly made snuck up behind him.

 _LOOK OUT!!!_ Kurama screamed in his mind, but it was already too late… “Underworld Turnover Technique!” the clone shouted, trapping Naruto in a dome of stone, as his body went limp.

 _Kit? KIT?_ Kurama panicked. He couldn’t feel Naruto anymore!

Tayuya saw the boy’s body fall onto the ground and released a sigh. _Alright, it actually worked… Now I just need to go heal the others._ She was about to go do that when her thoughts were cut off by a snarl. “You…! No way!” She backed away in horror as a red-pupiled Naruto’s face twisted into a look of hatred.

“You’ve just taken away my most cherished treasure, and now, _I’m going to_ _kill you!_ ” Kurama growled, as he used Naruto’s body to slice through the red-head in front of him. He turned towards the stone dome and flared his chakra, stretching out his sensing ability. _There!_ He walked towards the spot he felt Naruto’s spirit at and wrapped his chakra around it gently, slowly coaxing it back into the blonde’s body. When he was all finished, he breathed a sigh of relief and slumped down, returning control to Naruto.

“Urghh, what happened?” Naruto groaned, falling to the floor and blinking his bright blue eyes at the sky. “I feel terrible…”

 _Ah, sorry Kit, that’s my fault._ Kurama replied sheepishly. He’d gone a bit overboard when he’d taken over the blonde’s body. He was just so angry and scared at the thought of losing Naruto forever, that he just reacted, not taking into consideration how much of his chakra Naruto’s body could handle…

“Oh, that’s alright then. So, we won?” Naruto asked curiously, as he sat up. He was still too tired to stand, so he just stayed sitting, watching the barrier shake as it collapsed on itself.

 _Yeah, we won._ Kurama replied, wrapping his chakra around Naruto’s. He needed a physical (or as close as he could get to physical) reminder that the blonde was still there and that he didn’t lose him. Naruto shivered at the touch, but relaxed. It felt nice, as if Kurama was protecting him with his own chakra.

The barrier finally broke, letting the ANBU inside. Kakashi immediately entered the broken barrier and wrapped his arms protectively around Naruto in a warm hug. The rest of the ANBU went off to help the Hokage, only a few staying behind to secure the Sound Four.

Kinoto forced himself not to scowl. He was so close to getting rid of the Third and the blonde brat when everything went pear-shaped. He should’ve counted on the fact that the Kyuubi would protect its container from harm. Why else would the blonde have an advanced healing technique (other than his Uzumaki legacy)? …The worst part about this was that he couldn’t even do anything now to harm the brat as it’d look suspicious…

Everyone was too caught up in their own thoughts to notice the barrier suddenly flare green. No one was ready when the barrier suddenly stabilized, reforming rapidly and kicking everyone out.

* * *

 

A Battle Amongst the Best

“Stop playing, Orochimaru!” Hiruzen grunted as he deflected yet another blow with Enma.

“Humph,” Orochimaru huffed. _Honestly, sensei’s no fun…_ Stretching his mouth open, he yanked out a sword. They flew in a flurry of strikes, sword against monkey, monkey against sword. Sparks flew as they struck, the two battle hardened shinobi drawing back after an intense bout of blows. “It seems like your adamantine staff is no match against my Kusanagi,” he sneered.

“No matter the pain, Enma and I won’t stop until you’re taken down!” Hiruzen stated solemnly. He was about to continue when the barrier around them started flickering. “What? Has someone taken it down?” he wondered in shock.

Orochimaru gritted his teeth. All his plans were falling apart. He couldn’t get Sasuke’s body in the forest because of the pink-haired-she-devil, he couldn’t get the Kyuubi container because of the evil bug-boy, and now he couldn’t kill Sarutobi because of his useless minions. How did the dead-last of the academy defeat his elite Sound Four? Even with the Kyuubi helping, they shouldn’t have been defeated so easily! _Damn, if only Kimimaro was here… No matter, at least I’ll be able to test out my backup plan._ Channeling his chakra, Orochimaru sent it into the barrier, activating the secondary set of seals he’d hidden in the old formation. “Chakra Barrier Release!” he yelled out, as the barrier pulled itself back together and removed everyone who had a lower chakra level than him. The only people who could freely enter the barrier were those who had an equal or higher chakra level to him, meaning only the Third. Those meddling ANBU would have no way to stop him now! The only flaw in this plan, was that the barrier had shrunk itself and that it trapped those within it until the user ran out of chakra or let go of the technique. This meant that for every second he held it up, it drained him of .01% of his chakra reserves. As he only had about 20% of his reserves leftover, he had to end this and fast.

* * *

 

Naruto was enjoying the warmth of Kakashi’s hug, when suddenly it was ripped away from him. Too exhausted to resist, he let the barrier carry him closer to the fight between the Hokage and Orochimaru. Studying the reformed barrier, he suppressed a groan as he realized it would only give way if the one who activated it let it go. Considering it didn’t look like the Snake Sage was going to do that anytime soon, his chances of leaving were looking slim… Pushing himself up, he shakily used his sealing brush to add a few symbols to the barrier. _Hah! Take that you stupid snake-perv!_ He couldn’t take it down as he had next to no chakra leftover, but he could make it so that it drained Orochimaru’s reserves faster! Satisfied with his work, the blonde slumped down again, deciding to watch the fight from afar.

* * *

 

Orochimaru grunted as he met another attack from Hiruzen. Pulling back, he rechecked his chakra levels. _What?! Why do I only have 5% leftover?!_ He thought in shock. According to his calculations, he should’ve had 10% not 5%. _What could have changed it? Unless…!_ Narrowing his eyes at the barrier’s borders in suspicion, he noticed the blonde brat sitting against the barrier, smiling smugly. _He must have done something to drain my chakra!_ Orochimaru concluded as he dodged another attack of the Third. _It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to kill of the old man… Time to make my escape!_ His slitted yellow eyes glinted as he thought up a plan. Smirking, he launched an attack at Hiruzen, his grin widening as Hiruzen dodged it. “You’re getting old, sensei, if you couldn’t see through an attack like that!” he taunted.

Hiruzen frowned, wondering what his wayward student was talking about. _See through the attack…?_ His eyes widened as he realized that Orochimaru had wanted him to dodge the attack. A foreboding feeling filled him, as he turned around and saw the attack headed towards Naruto! “No!” he yelled, but it was too late. He watched helplessly as those blue eyes widened at the incoming attack. The blonde’s body trying to move but being unable to. “No,” he whispered.

Orochimaru’s eyes gleamed as he saw Sarutobi distracted. It was a shame he had to kill the blonde, but you couldn’t have everything you wanted. At least he could get revenge for his ruined plans… Moving in for the kill, he was about to attack when a shockwave knocked him over. Looking up, his eyes widened as he recognized that familiar figure standing inside a crater.

* * *

 

A Few Moments Ago—Back to when the Barrier was Reformed

The ANBU that had been evicted, picked themselves off the ground and hurriedly secured Orochimaru’s disciples. All of them (except for Kinoto) were angry at what just happened. They were so close to taking down Orochimaru for good when that stupid barrier came back up, trapping the Hokage, Orochimaru, and the Kyuubi brat. Unfortunately, none of them had the reserves to enter the barrier. It was actually impressive to see that the blonde was still stuck in the barrier considering he appeared to be chakra exhausted… How much chakra did he have to be able to match Orochimaru and the Third?

Kakashi glared at the barrier, hoping it would self-destruct so he could have his cute little student tucked away in his arms so he couldn’t get into any more trouble. It was terrifying to see how close to the battle the blonde was. Just one missed attack and he could be taken away from them forever! He growled as he saw one of the attacks just miss the blonde by a few feet. Watching the fight, he saw Orochimaru sneak a glance at Naruto before aiming his last attack at the Third. Feeling something sinister about that last attack, Kakashi followed it and panicked when he saw it headed towards the unsuspecting blonde! He watched in growing horror as the attack drew closer and closer until it was only a little bit away. “Move! Get out of the way!” he urged desperately, paling when he saw the blonde’s limbs only twitch as he tried to move out of the way. Thinking it was the end, he was surprised when someone dropped down from the sky, forming a crater where they landed. As the dust cleared, a pig-tailed blonde stood in the center of the crater in front of Naruto, protecting the genin.

Everyone was silent. They couldn’t believe that _she_ was actually here… _What the hell?_

* * *

 

Baa-chan is Back!

Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the attack to hit him, when he felt a rumble instead. _An earthquake?_ He thought, opening his eyes to see a blonde lady in a grass-green haori standing in front of him. _Kake? Gamble?_ He read the word inside the red circle on her back.

“Orochimaru…” she said, glaring at the Snake Sage,

“Tsunade, how pleasant to see you again. Why are you here again? I thought you vowed to never come back…” Orochimaru asked, looking at his ex-teammate.

“I’m here for this Gaki,” she gestured towards Naruto. “No one hurts my grandson and gets away with it!”

“Baa-chan!” Naruto was open-mouthed in a mixture of shock and elation at seeing Tsunade standing in front of him. He never expected she’d actually come to see him!

“Brat,” she grinned at the blonde. After all those letters, she just _had_ to come. There was no putting it off any longer. She couldn’t neglect her only living relative that actually took the time to write to her for _months_ , despite getting no response. She still felt pain to see Konoha in all its glory without Dan or Nawaki by her side, but she was glad she’d come. If she hadn’t, she might’ve lost another precious person to her without being able to do anything. At least this time, she could be there for him…

Emotions welled up in Orochimaru. _How was the brat doing this?!_ All his plots so far have been stopped in one way or the other due to the blonde. It was like he was a jinx sent from hell to ruin all his plans. He tightened his fist as rage, frustration, resentment, and a small amount of awe surged through him. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. It looked like all his plans to attack were out. He had to think up a plan to escape, it was the only way he was going to get out of this alive. _Okay, think Orochimaru. What are their weaknesses? How can I exploit them? Aha! Got it!_ When he opened his pale-yellow eyes a few seconds later, he’d already thought up a way to escape. Normally, this would be impossible, but Orochimaru wasn’t called a genius for nothing! What would take others hours to plan, would only take him mere moments before he was able to formulate a new strategy.

Double-checking that everyone was distracted by his ex-teammate’s arrival, Orochimaru sent a shadow clone with Kusanagi to deal with Sarutobi and rushed Tsunade.

The Slug Princess punched out at Orochimaru, expecting him to avoid it. However, the Snake Sage didn’t alter his route and met the punch head on with his backup sword which shattered into a million pieces from the force of the punch, scratching Tsunade. The pig-tailed blonde froze as red rivulets of blood dripped down her fist.

She was paralyzed, the memories of her failures running through her head in a loop. _Dan, Nawaki, I’m so, so sorry… I couldn’t heal you, I’m a failure. I can’t heal anyone..._

Orochimaru smirked sadistically as he saw her stiffen up. _Looks like she really does have hemophobia… What a surprise for a medic of her caliber to succumb to something so irrational…_ He aimed another attack at her, intending to kill her so no one would be able to stop him from leaving. The ANBU had already helped Hiruzen deal with his clone, and he didn’t want to take any chances that they could catch him. If he killed her, then they’d be too busy trying to heal her to go after him.

Naruto watched in awe at how Tsunade battled Orochimaru, only to have it change to horror when she stopped and stood in place as Orochimaru shot a Lightning Water Dragon Bullet at her. “Baa-chan! Move!” he yelled, but she still didn’t snap out of her trance-like state. Gathering all his remaining strength, Naruto pushed Tsunade out of the way, only to black out as the attack pierced a hole through his chest.

 _KIT!!!! YOU CAN’T DIE ON ME! I WON’T ALLOW IT!_ Kurama boomed, saturating Naruto’s system with his chakra, wincing at the blonde’s cry of pain. Although it hurt, this was the only way he could make sure the blonde would survive until he got some medical help.

The scream of pain finally startled Tsunade out of her trance. Before she knew what she’s doing, she was already summoning Katsuyu and telling the slug to heal Naruto. Seeing the blonde lying on the ground, bleeding out from a hole in his chest, fury coursed through her veins and the next thing she knew was that she’d delivered a punch to Orochimaru’s abdomen, pulverizing him into a bloody mess. Unfortunately, he’d already shed his body using his Slithering Snake Mode to escape. Kneeling down next to the blonde, she tried using Mystic Palm Technique to stem the blood, only to see it wasn’t working. The wound was too deep and he was losing too much blood for them to attempt surgery. There was only one way she could heal him now. She drew four formula lines around the wound and sat down, using the single-person version of the Regenerative Healing Jutsu. Usually this technique took multiple healers working together for hours on end to work, but she was Tsunade of the Sannin, Konoha’s Slug Princess, the Legendary Sucker, the world’s strongest kunoichi and medical-nin! With Katsuyu helping her, there was no way she could fail. Carefully controlling her chakra, she sent it through the hole and was relieved to see it closing up. _Wow, it’s healing up faster than I thought it would… Could the Kyuubi be helping the boy?_ She thought absently as she finished healing the blonde. Only when there was no sign of any damage did she stop, gently gathering Naruto up in her arms. “Sensei, I’m going to the hospital,” she spoke abruptly and left the clearing, leaving the dazed ANBU and her stunned teacher behind. Only Kakashi had the presence of mind to follow her.

Hiruzen watched his student leave with his surrogate grandson, bemused but relieved that Naruto was alright. He surveyed the village from his position and was surprised to see Sand fighting against Sound under the command of a red-head who he was sure was the Suna Jinchuuriki from the exams. The snakes had been defeated by Jiraiya and it looked like none of the enemy-nin were able to breach the hospital nor the academy. The last few remnants of Oto had fled while the rest were either captured or dead. All in all, this was a very successful campaign, as they’d defended their home against the invaders with minimal casualties. It was a pity that Orochimaru had escaped Konoha yet again… Next time, the Snake Sage wouldn’t be so lucky, Hiruzen swore as he made his way towards the ANBU commander. There would be a lot more work (and paperwork) to get done before Konoha was back to the way it was before the invasion…


End file.
